The Shining Glass
by AlterEthereal
Summary: [AU, SasuNaru] As a college student, Sasuke lives in a dorm with his brother. When a cocky blonde boy in a dress appears in his room one day ready to grant him a single wish, however, his life is turned upside down.
1. Alleged Deity

**Author's Note:** Yo, what's up? I'm back with another story to add to the two already unfinished ones collecting dust on my account. Sorry, but I couldn't help it! It was such a neat idea and I was just dying to write it, so... I did! Well... the first chapter and a half, anyway.

This story was inspired by both **sonic-stage**'s _Naruto_ AU fic and the anime series _Oh! My Goddess!_.

_(ed: 11/25/05)_

**Summary:** As a college student, Sasuke lives in a dorm with his brother. When a cocky blonde boy in a dress appears in his room one day offering to grant him a single wish, however, his life is turned upside down.

**Pairings: SasuNaru**, probably more in the future... lots of one-sided messes, definitely.

**Warnings: shounen-ai**, plot holes, some violence, but nothing terrible (yet).

**Disclaimer:** I own soap. And socks.

**The Shining Glass**

Ch. 1 : Alleged Deity

"Sasuke, we're leaving. Stay here and-"

"-take any calls that come in. I know." With a practiced frown set deeply on his face, Sasuke watched his older brother nod and leave the room. He wasn't sad or upset about being left behind on these late night excursions—oh no, not by a long shot—it was merely force of habit. Though the small dormitory felt emptier with all its residents gone, it was somehow much more pleasant, as if the dark cloud that usually hovered over the building gave in to the sunshine for a little while a few times a week. Not to mention, it gave him time away from his brother.

For a few moments, hushed voices could be heard from a nearby hall, and then a door shut softly. Sasuke was alone. Sighing almost inaudibly, the young man rose from his spot on the floor, leaving his open textbooks splayed out on the dull, green carpet to wait for him. Destination: kitchen.

The dormitory was nice, there was no denying that. There was a fully functional kitchenette for every two of the ten rooms in the cozy, one-floor building, and wardrobes, desks, and chairs were supplied generously. A wireless internet connection ran throughout the house, free of charge. The rooms were spacious, if not unnecessarily large. The bedroom that he shared with his brother, Itachi, was nearly as large as the one that they'd shared when he was a child and they lived with their parents--back when their parents were alive. And most of all, it was "restricted access," meaning that only members of the occupying party could enter without specified permission from the dorm leader.

Flicking on the light switch, Sasuke entered the tidy, little kitchenette. Clean walls, spotless counters, no dishes in the sink, nothing ever out of order. It was like no one used the place except him. He reached the refridgerator quickly, but paused just before opening it as he caught sight of his reflection against its cool metal surface.

Deceivingly messy, black hair framing the pale skin of a perfectly arranged face. Noble-looking nose, firm chin, and full, yet expressionless lips. Calm, beautiful eyes painted by some ethereal ink that he suspected couldn't get any darker even if it was cast in shadows. Eyes that looked so much like Itachi's when he was Sasuke's age, though very rarely anymore.

His mouth suddenly took on a more resentful angle as he realized for what must've been the thousandth time that he was growing to look more and more like his brother every day.

"I'll never be like that bastard," he muttered to himself as he finally yanked open the fridge. To his disappointment, however, the contents of the fridge—or rather, lack of contents—only seemed to mock him further. He glared blankly into the offendingly empty appliance, hoping that something substantial might magically appear there out of the force of his will, until he got a chill and slammed the door shut.

"Che, if he wanted me to starve to death, he could've just killed me back when he killed everyone else."

And again, as usual, he asked himself why he was there. _There are several reasons, _he noted as he drifted back down the hall. _Itachi has legal custody over me. _One. _I go to school here. _Two. _He's the only family I have left. _Three. _He won't let me leave._ Four.

It was exactly four doors to the end of the hall and the lobby, to the main door, and to the outside. _Four_. How he'd grown to hate that number.

Entering the bedroom again, he realized that there was another mirror near where his books lay. He suddenly wanted to break it. Of course, Itachi would be angry, disappointed that one of the prestigious Uchiha clan would lose control of his emotions in such an unbecoming way. Or in any way at all, for that matter.

Sasuke's brain was forced to a sudden halt as a deep rumbling overtook his body. Automatically scanning himself to find the source of the problem, he was relieved to find that it was just his stomach, something that could easily be fixed by ordering take-out and then blamed on Itachi later for not keeping enough food in their dorm. And besides, it wasn't like they couldn't spare the change.

Grabbing the phonebook from the desk, Sasuke began scanning it for anything that sounded appealing. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like he had many options. With a scowl, he pulled his cell phone from where his bag lay on the floor nearby and dialed the first number. The other line rang a few times, but no answer.

"Well, that didn't sound very good anyway... let's see..." A second number. Again, no answer.

Becoming a bit frustrated, he tried a third number. A few rings and... ah yes! A voice! "Thank you for calling-"

"-Yes, I'd like an order of-"

"-hours on weekdays from 9 am to 8 pm. For a copy of our menu and upcoming specials, please press 2. For information about job applications, please press-" _Beep_.

Fourth number: no luck. Fifth number: none better. Anger was now imminent if not closing on the young student. Dialing a sixth number, Sasuke cursed, "Damnit, isn't there something open past 9:00 around here?"

Suddenly, someone on the other line picked up. "Thank you for calling the Heavenly Help Line. We have recieved your distress call and will be sending a consultant shortly."

"Distress call?" Sasuke tried to question, but the other person had hung up already. The voice had been distinctly female and he could've sworn he'd heard... giggling. "Heavenly Help Line... is that some kind of... porn ring or something? I must've dialed the wrong number..." However, before he could contemplate this error further, the very mirror which he'd so graciously spared from destruction earlier began to glow softly, a gentle blue light radiating from what seemed from within it.

Sasuke thought he was going crazy. Rubbing his eyes feverishly, he told himself he hadn't just seen a _face_ in that mirror. Looking up, he found that he'd been correct. There was no face, just a _foot_ in the mirror. And... was it just his imagination, or was the foot somehow pushing its way out?

_There's no way this is happening. I must've passed out from hunger or something and I'm having a weird dream about chefs coming out of mirrors to treat me to a feast. And in the morning I'm going to wake up even hungrier than when I passed out..._

But a chef's uniform was far from the ensemble that began to emerge. The lightly tanned foot was soon engulfed by some kind of sparkling, orange border with gold trim leading up to a light blue... skirt? No, an ankle-length dress. A layer of what appeared to be white satin, followed by more of that gold-ish trim and border, and an overcoat, or something. It was light blue, too, like the dress. But something was already wrong...

_Generally, dresses are worn by girls, right? Then why does the chest beneath that gold broach look so... flat?_

Next, a hand emerged from the shining glass. It was tan and small, attatched to a slender wrist adorned by two loose, gold bracelets, but somehow clumsy in the way that it grappled for something to grasp onto. Finally, it seemed to find the top frame of the mirror, and managed to push the rest of its body through.

Sasuke quickly realized why the chest of the individual who appeared before him was so flat: it belonged to a boy. A boy with evenly tanned skin and a clean countenance, with the exception of three whisker-like markings on each cheek. Blonde hair, almost yellow, like the color of daffodils in the springtime, or maybe fire, or the color a sunset turns the bottom of a cloud. It was short, and as the boy shook it out like a mane, Sasuke guessed he couldn't be any older than he himself. And then, with a satisfied sound, the strange young man opened his eyes—bluer than the sea, brighter than the sky—and grinned with his lips clearly showing a row of crisp, white teeth.

Sasuke didn't even bother trying to prevent his mouth from hanging open slightly. This... creature, which, he reminded himself, emerged from a _mirror_ in his _dorm room_, must've been his exact polar opposite, from his clothing to his looks to his expression. He just radiated energy and happiness, and even a certain carelessness in the way he sloppily turned to face Sasuke and dropped himself down before him.

"So," the ethereal creature spoke in a playful, almost cocky kind of voice, "you must be Uchiha Sasuke-san."

At the sound of his name, the addressee immediately snapped his jaw back to its place and attempted to think of some kind of reply. "Who's asking?" But he found himself displeased at the way the question shook as it was delivered.

"Oh, no, I didn't ask. You called, remember?" The boy's smile suddenly looked like a smirk. "So here I am! And you only get one, so don't try anything tricky. 'Cause trust me, I'll know."

"Get one what? Who are you?"

"Wish, duh! And I'm Uzumaki Naruto, of course! Wish-giver extraordinaire, the pride of Yggdrasil, the next King of Heaven!"

Watching as the boy gave him the most self-assured smile he'd ever seen, the Uchiha finally decided that there must be Something Going On. "A 'wish'? How did you get in here, anyway?" Finally forcing his body to move, he got to his feet and briskly moved to the mirror, away from the strange boy still on the floor. Him coming through the mirror must've been some kind of illusion. Examining the glass surface, however, he noted that it still seemed to be quite intact—no fractures, no missing bits, not even a speck of dust seemed to have been disturbed. And yet...

"I used the mirror. It's my medium, kind of like a car, yknow?" A short silence ensued, where the two boys looked at each other awkwardly as a thin tension ran through the room.

"This... is a joke," Sasuke concluded abruptly. "Right? Your clothes... you like like a moron. Heaven doesn't exist, and wishes don't come true. Now, I'm in a bad mood right now, so whatever trick Itachi convinced you to play on me, I'd suggest you call it off and leave."

The tension between them suddenly skyrocketed. "I'm not a moron! And this isn't a joke, or a trick! I'm not leaving until I grant you a wish, you jerk," the blonde boy held stubbornly.

The Uchiha was bordering on anger for the second time in 20 minutes. _Why the hell would Itachi pull a stunt like this?_ He asked himself, trying to think of anything he'd done to piss his brother off in the last week or so. Taking in his unwelcome guest's rather feminine clothing once again, he wondered, _Is it because I haven't shown any interest in the girls around here? Is he making fun of me with this whole wish deal? That must be it..._

"Nobody's making fun of you, Uchiha," the other boy suddenly interrupted Sasuke's train of thought. "Except me, if you keep acting like a prick. Just make a stupid wish and get it over with, already!"

"How the...?" The dark-eyed boy was speechless for a moment as he collected what was left of his internal monologue. "What the hell are you?"

'Uzumaki Naruto' rolled his eyes. "A god, what else?" _Is this guy some kind of an idiot or what?_

Sasuke remained unsatisfied, and glared at the boy harshly. "So you expect me to believe that you're a god, ...what was it? Uzumaki something? And that you've been sent from Heaven to grant me a wish, and have no connection to my brother whatsoever."

"Yep," the alleged deity affirmed, "though you seem kind of stupid, and I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't grasp the concept."

The tension was now unbelievable. Sasuke hadn't been pushed to raise his voice in a long time, but this boy, whom he hadn't even been acquainted to for five minutes, was somehow able to push his buttons to the point where he had to struggle to remain calm. He was already frustrated—at this stranger, for entering the dorm without permission, refusing to leave, and playing some kind of head game with him that he must've found amusing; at his brother, for being the most likely one to play such a dirty trick and actually being able to pull it off; and at himself, of course, for allowing himself to be irritated so easily. What exactly was the point of all this, anyway? What was he supposed to do? And how could he get out of it?

After thinking it over for a few moments, he decided, _Fine, I'll go along with whatever Itachi has planned. I'll do exactly what he wants me to do, and worry about redeeming my dignity later._

"You say I can have any wish I want?" Sasuke bit out, knowing that the entire situation was beyond ridiculous.

"_Yes_, now can we get _on_ with it?" The blue-eyed boy sounded just as agitated as Sasuke felt, which was almost surprising for a moment, but not long enough to make the Uchiha waver.

"Alright then," he said with considerable conviction, "I wish for you to be my boyfriend forever."

"Che, what a stupid wish."

_But... wasn't that what he was expecting me to wish for?_ Sasuke didn't have the time to ponder any more than that, however, as suddenly, a bright blue light, much like the one which signified the being's entrance, engulfed first the blond, then the area around him, and finally the whole room. It swirled and twisted around him, like some kind of pure energy. Like the chakra he used in martial arts club, but so concentrated and potent that he could nearly _see_ it, if it weren't so damn bright. He clamped his eyes shut tight and just tried to stay on his feet.

* * *

"Itachi-san? Is something wrong?"

"Kisame," Itachi acknowledged the man beside him as if he'd been pulled from a thousand miles away, something that was rare for the usually wary Uchiha. "No, I just have a feeling."

His companion relaxed only slightly. "Should we go back?"

At the mention of a change in plans, the other seven members of the party halted their steps and turned toward the two. Itachi considered for another moment. "Yeah."

* * *

When the intense light finally died down and his eyes didn't feel like they were burning behind their lids, Sasuke cautiously raised his lashes to meet whatever was to lie before him.

The first thing he noticed was that he was still in his room, and that the blond boy remained as well. The second thing he noticed was that the said room was in complete and utter disrepair. The whirling energy he felt engulfing him must've thrown nearly every object in the room around, including his textbooks, two of which appeared to be flung against a wall and the third of which, along with his notebook, was nowhere in sight.

"What the hell... just happened?" he asked aloud. Suddenly, however, a yelp from his companion drew his attention.

"Shit! Shit shit _shit_!" he cursed animatedly, already on his feet with Sasuke before noticing the boy's bewildered and still slightly irritated stare. "You bastard," he yelled, "your wish was just approved!"

Already confused and high strung, the Uchiha's composure was lost by the blond's caustic voice and insulting words, which kept coming out of the boy's mouth even after he began to pace around as if on the verge of pulling his unruly, golden locks out. "What the fuck do you mean, 'approved'? What did you just do, you moron?"

"I granted your wish!"

* * *

tbc...

**Preview:**

"Sasuke!"

At the sound of his elder brother's voice from the door behind him, however, the young Uchiha froze solid, eyes wide and the only thought running through his brain being that the whole scene must look very, very incriminating. The punch he'd been about to throw didn't matter anymore; how much terror was evident on his face was inconsequential; he didn't even care about the boy beneath him whose blue eyes were suddenly filled with a hint of sympathy. His whole world narrowed down to that desolate four feet between himself and his doom. _Four_, how he hated that number.

"Care to explain, little brother?"

* * *

Better chapter length than usual! Think I should keep going? Review! 


	2. Your Stupid Wish

**Author's Note:** Yo! How's life? Thanksgiving was nice, my eldest sister's family came over and there was much food and anime and DDR and cut-throat (I lost). Anyway, new chapter for you all, and then some! Don't expect updates to be this quick all the time, though. And chapters probably won't always be this long. -_sweat_- School hasn't been very busy lately, but finals are coming up soon, so time is going to be scarce for me. After that, though, I'll have winter break and updates should speed up again. In the mean time, enjoy!

Oh, and by the way, I feel compelled to tell you all, since it seems to be a common misconception... this is _not_ a crossover. Keiichi and Belldandy will not be making any cameos in this fic, just their storyline.

**Reviewer Replies:** THANK YOU to everyone who has read and reviewed! All the positive feedback I got for the first chapter was wonderful! -_hugs everybody_-

And thanks to the new reply feature, I can reply to questions and whatnot individually outside chapters! So I also want to thank the ff admin for being so helpful and convenience-oriented.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai, profanity, mild violence, and probably some plot holes... so far.

**Summary**,** Pairings**, and **Disclaimer:** See first chapter, 'cause I'm lazy and won't put 'em in again unless I have something new to add to them.

Ch. 2 : **Your Stupid Wish**

"And what's that supposed to mean? Other than that you just totalled me and my brother's dorm room!" Sasuke was on the verge of not only pulling his hair out, but pulling Naruto's out too, punching him in the face, and hurling him out the nearest window while he was at it.

"It means I'm bound to you by contract for the rest of my life! My whole stupid life!"

"What kind of contract? I never signed anything!"

"You signed it orally when you made your wish," Naruto suddenly turned to the Uchiha with a sort of bitterness on his face, as if the other boy had just committed some unspeakable crime against him. "And it's irrevocable, there's no way to undo it."

For a moment, Sasuke was taken aback by the resentment in the suddenly darkened blue eyes of the young deity. He couldn't even remember a time when someone had accosted him with such a look. Even Itachi only glared at him blankly when he was angry, or gazed at him like he was some pitiful, dirty animal. _I don't believe I'm hearing this... can't we just go our separate ways and be done with it? Pretend this whole thing never happened?_ _I mean, it's not like there's really any contract, right? He's not a god, just a stupid brat with fancy tricks!_

"No, mister fix-it, we can't just split up! The contract is held up by the System Force, which'll manipulate every circumstance of your life that threatens to come between us," Naruto explained exasperatedly. "If I try to go back to heaven, the gate will be locked. If you drop me off at the train station, the train won't come. If you try to drop me off the side of some road, your car will break down before you go ten meters," the blond's voice rose with each sentence, until finally he was yelling. "And it's all because of your stupid wish!"

A fist suddenly connected to his whiskered cheek. The powerful hit threw Naruto stumbling backwards, and for a moment he was disoriented, barely able to hear the other boy's words.

"Liar! Shut the hell up!" Sasuke yelled back. "Like I'm going to let some idiot kid in a dress that I don't even know tell me how to live my life! Let's just see how powerful your 'System Force' is!" He turned and began taking stormy steps toward the door of the disastrous-looking room, only to be stopped thoroughly in his tracks by a fist to the side of his own face, courtesy of a small, tanned hand.

"So what, you'll just let your brother tell you how to live it?" Naruto yelled, standing directly in front of Sasuke so that it was immediately obvious how much taller the latter was than the former. The Uchiha's glare immediately turned to one of pure hatred and his scowl transformed into an almost feral expression only describable as a snarl. "Wake _up_, Uchiha! This isn't all about _you_ and wrecking _your _life!"

"_Shut up!_ You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, so don't you _ever_ say anything about my brother and I again!" A right hook, dead on.

"Fuck you! I can only read your mind, after all!" And with incredible ferocity and unexpected strength, Naruto launched himself at Sasuke with intent to kill or at least seriously injure.

With one well-placed sweep of his foot and a well-timed jerk of the shoulders, the Uchiha was on his way to the ground, the blue-eyed boy following suit. He landed painfully, half-way on his side and lying on top of something that definitely wasn't carpet.

_Maybe that third textbook_, he wondered somewhere in the back of his mind before being abruptly jerked back to reality by a harsh elbow to the ribs. Naruto was shouting something unintelligible at him that probably involved curse words, but Sasuke didn't care. They scuffled around on the floor for a minute or so before the blond managed to get him on his back, his waist firmly trapped beneath the smaller boy. He vaguely noticed that the white satin part of the dress had been torn, revealing more of the blue fabric underneath it.

Hooking one of the blond's legs within his own, while at the same time blocking a few hits to his face and taking a few others and giving a few others back, he simultaneously bucked his hips upward and grabbed the arm holding his opponent up, jerking it out from under him and taking the opportunity to slam Naruto into the ground next to him, rolling with him so that their original positions were reversed. Still gripping the one small, braceleted wrist, he pulled back his free fist and prepared to slam it into the other boy's still-shocked face.

"Sasuke!"

At the sound of his elder brother's voice from the door behind him, however, the young Uchiha froze solid, eyes wide and the only thought running through his brain being that the whole scene must look very, very incriminating. The punch he'd been about to throw didn't matter anymore; how much terror was evident on his face was inconsequential; he didn't even care about the boy beneath him whose blue eyes were suddenly filled with a hint of sympathy. His whole world narrowed down to that desolate four feet between himself and his doom. _Four_, how he hated that number.

"Care to explain, little brother?" Itachi pronounced each word distinctly, as if to garner their effect to the fullest.

"Explain what?" That wasn't a stutter, really. Trying to free himself from the hold that his brother's words had on him, he closed his eyes and made himself breathe as normally as possible. When he opened them again, the first thing he saw was Naruto's gaze dart to the side, where Sasuke's fist was abruptly snatched from the air. Jerking his head around so quickly that his neck gave an unhealthy crack, he found himself looking up into the surprisingly dark eyes of Itachi. He hadn't even heard him walk over.

"What happened to this room? Why are you fighting with this boy? Who is he, and why is he in the dormitory?"

"He's..." The startled boy didn't know what to say, even after contemplating his options. He couldn't tell Itachi that the young blond beneath him was a _god_, but telling him practically anything else could get Naruto into some serious trouble, and possibly himself as well.

Itachi pulled Sasuke's wrist upward, and the rest of his younger brother's body with it to a standing position. It was obvious that he was trying to think of what he could say that would appease him, though he knew the situation was hopeless. Things were going to change because of the incident no matter what he replied. The question was whether or not he would stick up for the blue-eyed boy who still lay defenseless on the ground.

"He's... just a friend who came over to study."

Naruto, meanwhile, seemed to finally come to his senses as his brain registered the lie. "No, it's that I'm-"

"_Shut up, _Uzumaki," Sasuke commanded harshly, with enough force to actually silence the other boy.

The elder Uchiha took this short exchange in and processed it within the vast expanse of his brain. "I see," he began, slowly and firmly. "Little brother, while I'm pleased that you've made," he glanced back at Naruto's clothes, "diverse friends, you know that only Akatsuki members are allowed to enter the dormitory without explicit permission, and that this rule is to be strictly observed with no exceptions."

"Yes."

"And you know that I've already pushed the others by keeping you here."

"Yes..."

A new voice resounded from the shadows of the somehow suddenly dark hallway, and all present turned to face it. As usual, the man's face was barely visible, his pose vague and his aura ominous. "Itachi-kun, I'm afraid that this is unacceptable," he stated emotionlessly. "Uchiha Sasuke, you are hereby expelled from this dormitory. I must ask you to leave."

Turning back to Sasuke with an unreadable expression, Itachi let go of the pale wrist and watched it fall limply to the boy's side. "His word is law in this place. You have ten minutes, little brother, to collect your things and go."

And with those words echoing in the silence of the dormitory, the Uchiha left the room, as quietly as he'd come. As he passed the man who'd been watching from the shadows, he murmured something to be heard only by the other man's ears, "That boy is one of _them_."

Meanwhile, Naruto followed the man's shape with his eyes until it was completely swallowed by the darkness of the hallway, and then got to his feet slowly, almost cautiously, dusting off his battered robes. The shuffling of the satin displaced the thick silence, and for a moment, the tension lessened. Sasuke, he noted, still hadn't moved since Itachi pulled him to his feet, and his eyes were downcast and invisible behind dark strands of hair.

"Uchiha?" the blond ventured uncertainly, taking a step around to try to get a view of the boy's face.

A chuckle made its way to the deity's ears, quick and quiet with the accessory sound of fists clenching. And then, in almost a whisper, "You have no idea..."

Sasuke's mind was so... overwhelmingly dark right now. Like it was being overcrowded with things beyond the boy's power to organize. Like insanity.

"...what you've done." His voice became a bit louder, so that the other didn't have to strain to hear it. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to get out of here."

That sentence seemed to clear a few things up, but Naruto was still a little confused, and more than a little apprehensive about dealing with his new acquaintance right then. "Listen, Uchiha, that's great and all," he began carefully, attempting to filter his voice of all the cockiness he knew was often present, "but he said ten minutes. We should get going, don't you think?"

Sasuke suddenly raised his eyes, ink meeting sky in a furious clash, and Naruto couldn't help but think that the Uchiha suddenly looked like a tired child, the way his eyes were slightly widened and the way the circles beneath them somehow seemed more evident. "We...?" he asked, as if the word was a foreign concept.

"Yeah, we," the blond affirmed. "I have to go too, remember?"

Sasuke wasn't sure whether the boy was talking about the contract he'd spoke of earlier or the rule that Itachi had recited. In all honestly, he didn't care. All he cared about was that he could _get out_. "Fine," he tried not to let his voice tremble, "do whatever you want."

Naruto watched the dark-haired boy proceed to the corner of the room, where the finely-crafted wooden wardrobe had been pushed several feet to rest with one door flung open, and nearly off its hinges. Suddenly feeling a bit of remorse for being the one to put the room in such a disastrous state, he looked around for something that he could do to help Sasuke while he packed up his clothes. He quickly caught sight of the textbooks that had run through the other boy's mind earlier, and went to retrieve them. As he began collecting them and looking for the third one which Sasuke had been unable to spot, however, the said boy's voice drifted over to him like a cool breeze.

"You... should probably put on some different clothes if you're going to go outside." He sounded much calmer than he had the couple of minutes before, and the smaller boy managed a cheerful smile as he found the Uchiha wading through his things for something that would him.

"Thanks, but I can do it," he said confidently.

Within the time that it took for Sasuke to realize that there was something fundamentally displaced in that statement, the blue light had already begun emanating from behind him again, though much gentler this time. Turning toward Naruto, who was predictably the source of the light, he shielded his eyes and squinted, trying to see what was happening. When the brightness dissipated, however, he found himself face to face with a blond wearing not a mangled dress, but a pair of loose-fitting jeans, an orange hoodie, and tennis shoes. A grin, he noticed belatedly, was plastered on the boy's face with pride, and the two textbooks were still snugly tucked in his arms. He looked like any other college student.

"How are you doing that?" Sasuke asked skeptically. _I know he can't really be a god._ "Are you some kind of magician?"

"No, I really am a god," Naruto insisted. "I know that you don't believe it's possible, but you're just going to have to change your thinking. I'm here, and it looks like you're gonna be stuck with me for a while."

The Uchiha fought off an irate sigh. They'd been through this, hadn't they? "Whatever, Uzumaki. But don't do that again, not here." _If the others were to see him, there's no telling what they'd do._

"Don't worry, I can handle myself," the blond tried to reassure the other boy. "Changing my clothes isn't the only thing I can do, you know." Adjusting the books in his arms, he once again began looking for the other boy's notebook and the missing textbook.

Sasuke just snorted, apparently not convinced. "I'm not worried. But even if you are a god, you wouldn't stand a chance against my brother, let alone the whole of Akatsuki."

The blue-eyed boy could practically feel his self-esteem drop a few pegs. "Gee, thanks for putting so much confidence in me, Uchiha."

"I'm not saying it to insult you, moron. It's just a fact," the boy held bluntly, stuffing the last item of clothing into his suitcase almost violently before rising to make his way around the room and collect the sundry other things strewn about the floor that belonged to him.

Naruto suddenly spotted the edge of a book peeking out from under the dissheveled bed. Giving a little chirp of victory, he made to get it. "He did seem abnormally powerful, for a human, I guess, but my senses aren't really good enough to be an accurate judge, to tell the truth," he admitted, as he brushed the textbook free of dust.

The two boys spent the next few minutes searching for what else could be taken with them, the blonde deity occasionally making a comment about something and his raven-haired "boyfriend" either grunting noncommittally or glaring half-heartedly. It took them the longest time to find the latter's notebook and pencil, both of which had somehow become lodged behind the desk. After that and one final check over the room and the large suitcase and smaller duffel bag that, together, held his things, Sasuke deemed himself ready to go. He grabbed his coat and boots from near the door while Naruto slipped the other boy's bookbag over his shoulder (complete with all textbooks, notebooks, and writing utensils), and together, they headed for the lobby.

Meanwhile, Sasuke wondered how his life had managed to take such a dramatic 180 degree turn-around in so short a time. Not even an hour ago, he'd been alone in the dormitory, looking frustratedly for food and waiting for his brother no less than angstily. Now, however, he found himself walking toward the crisp, autumn weather, down the hall which had kept him captive for years, his appetite long gone, being instead filled up to his ears with uncertainty—a state he hadn't been in for quite a long while, as far as he could remember. Not to mention that there was this irritating, blonde "god" with bright, blue eyes walking at his side, wearing his bookbag over a brightly clothed shoulder and a grin on his face, something that was _entirely_ new to him, and evoked an entirely new feeling in him. Responsibility, perhaps. Obligation, or maybe jealousy or suspicion.

_Hell, maybe this is what it feels like to have friends. _Looking askance at the cause of all these abrupt changes, he noted the way the young man's eyes changed to form upturned crescents and that the grin had suddenly widened, and knew that his thoughts had been heard, however that was possible. He wasn't sure whether he was more amazed or unnerved by it.

This got him thinking suddenly on what could explain everything that the blonde boy had done so far. Sure, the lights and the mirror could've been caused by carefully scripted optical illusion, and the clothing that he was wearing now could've been hiding under that weird dress and the transformation nothing more than a flash bomb and quick-working hands. But even if he allowed all these things to be true, albeit unlikely, none of them justified telepathy.

Perhaps it was a mutation in the boy's genome, much like the Sharingan which ran in his own family's blood—the mutation which Itachi possessed and controlled to a deadly extent, yet which had been strangely absent when confronting his and Naruto's little scuffle. A scuffle that wasn't really finished yet, he noted absentmindedly.

By the time Sasuke thought to count the doors they passed, he and Naruto were already out the door, standing side-by-side beneath the yellowish glow of a street lamp.

"So where do we go now?" The blond asked in a matter-of-fact tone. There was that 'we' again.

Sasuke snorted. "What makes you think that 'we' are going anywhere from here?"

"Pfft, what makes you think you can go anywhere without me?" Naruto almost snickered. "Look, I've already told you the deal, more than once, so you're either being really stubborn or really stupid. Let's not go through this again, alright?"

With a scowl etching itself onto his face, the dark-haired boy turned his back to his companion. _Why won't he just drop this act of his? We're not even inside the dormitory anymore, but he still insists that he's telling the truth. _Sasuke glared at the street thoughtfully. _Maybe a little test of his theory is in order, to prove that our fates aren't connected like he obviously wants me to believe._

With this in mind, Sasuke began walking. He didn't care that the Uzumaki boy still had his bookbag slung over his shoulders, or that he really had no idea where his feet would end up taking him. "We'll see about all that," he muttered, and then, with one foot in front of the other, the proud Uchiha...

...tripped. He managed to catch himself with one foot and would've remained standing, had the suitcase and duffel bag he held not been thrown off-balance, dragging him downward with enough force to bring one of his knees in contact with the rough pavement. Gaping slightly (Uchihas _never_ trip, it's like a rule or a religious dogma or something), he automatically glanced around to find what he'd tripped on. Along the way, his eyes flickered up to the boy who still stood under the dim spotlight of the lamp, with a casually bored expression on his face.

"You didn't trip on anything, Uchiha," the blond boy actually looked like he was on the verge of yawning. In truth, he didn't _need_ to read the other's mind to know that he would try something like this, or to know exactly what would happen. It was the System Force's way of saying 'you suck.' "But go ahead, get up and try again. Maybe you'll at least make three steps this time."

Deeply frustrated and not about to waste his time, Sasuke got back to his feet and allowed himself to consider what had just happened and the over all situation differently for the moment. "So then... you're not kidding, are you?"

"About what? You tripping over thin air?" Naruto asked, grinning despite the raven-haired boy's attitude.

"Don't be an idiot. I mean about... this, about everything."

"Nope, I haven't been kidding you at all," came the ready assurance, as the young god readjusted the weight of the bookbag he carried. "So uh, I'm gonna ask again, where do we go now?"

Sasuke decided that it would be best to believe him, for now, even if doing so required him to bend reality and fight off both spontaneous homicide and a heart attack. After all, his first priority should've been finding a place to stay for the night, anyway. "I don't know. But before we go anywhere," he pointedly commanded with as much comedy as an atomic bomb, "stop reading my mind, or whatever. You're not welcome there."

The blue-eyed boy nodded obediently for once, well able to understand the request (demand, whatever) as there were many places in his own mind where he would rather other people didn't tread. When they seemed to mutually accept this, he began thinking on the matter of where to stay again. "Well then, I guess we should start with... Do you have any relatives around here that could take us in?"

The Uchiha almost gave a bark of bitter laughter. "Not even close. After Itachi, there's nothing." And for a long time, he realized, that statement had applied in more ways than one.

"I see. Uh... Any friends?"

That time, he _did_ laugh.

"Why am I not surprised?" Naruto sighed, gathering the quite obviously negative response. What other options did they have? "How about a hotel?"

"I have the money, but not the age."

The blond was confused for a moment. "You're old enough to be in college, but you're too young to rent a hotel room?" he asked skeptically.

"I graduated early, when I was 16. I'm still only 17," Sasuke admitted, with less pride than his companion would have expected. Not giving any unnecessary questions time to form in the atmosphere, however, the Uchiha fixed the other boy with a pointed stare and continued, "And I don't suppose you're over 18, either."

"Sadly, no. I just turned 17 a couple weeks ago, myself." Naruto let out another sigh, and this time, there was an echoing sigh from his darker counterpart, who had finally come back to lean against the thick, metal pole of the street lamp, luggage set on the pavement.

Suddenly, something struck Sasuke. "If you're a god, why can't you just create a place for us to stay?"

The answer came with so little hesitance that it nearly seemed prepared. "Because that breaks a whole bunch of rules. We're not allowed to do things that interfere with the human world to a certain degree or something, and... well... Sakura-chan could probably recite the entire stupid clause to you, but I can't remember the damn thing hardly at all." Nearly.

"Who's Sakura?" The Uchiha asked, hoping that perhaps it was someone who could help them.

Naruto, meanwhile, got some far-off look on his face that practically emanated hearts. Clasping his hands together, he gushed, "Only the smartest, prettiest, most wonderful tech goddess in heaven! We graduated in the same class. She calls me an idiot and beats up on me all the time, but I know it's just to hide her affection."

"Che, yeah right. Without even meeting her, I'd be more inclined to say that she's serious."

"Hey! Are trying to call me an idiot, bastard?"

Ignoring the blond's outburst, he tried to bring back the matter at hand. "So could this Sakura girl do anything to help us out?"

Getting back on topic as well, though still with slight irritation marring his features, the deity replied, "Nah, and even if she _could_ pull any strings, she'll probably never talk to me again after finding out that I'm someone's _boyfriend_. She'll just go 'ew, now he's gay!' and leave me for dead."

_And he believes this girl likes him why?_ "Okay, so that means we'll have to think of something else." Taking his hands out of the pockets of his leather coat, Sasuke folded his arms across his chest and tried to think of some decent solution to their problem. All they really needed for the night, he conceded, was someplace reasonably sheltered from the cold and the wind, that wasn't too far away from the campus. The campus... "If I knew where Kakashi-sensei lived, I'd ask if we could stay in the dojo," he muttered, though he didn't expect his statement to pose any significance.

"A dojo?" The blond's face, however, suddenly lit up. "Hey, there's an old, abandoned dojo a little ways to the east, isn't there? That nobody ever uses?"

Sasuke's dark eyes shot up to Naruto's, connecting with his train of thought instantly. He knew the place that the boy was talking about. Hatake Kakashi, one of the graduate students who oversaw the martial arts club, trained there when he was just a child. It was old back then, he supposed, but now it was absolutely decrepit. "Yeah, but it's falling apart. No one's even supposed to go in there for safety reasons."

"It'll last one night without falling down, though, right?" One dark blonde eyebrow quirked, and the bookbag was readjusted again.

"Hm," Dark eyes glinted under the lamp light, and pale pink lips grew into a smirk, silently agreeing to the proposition. "Maybe you _are_ good for something, moron."

"Damn straight, bastard."

* * *

tbc...

**Preview:**

The dark-haired boy just snorted bemusedly. With no comment to be made in reply, he wordlessly swung a leg over the seat of the bike and got himself situated, feet firmly on the ground on either side. After pushing himself forward a bit to get off the kickstand and noting the difference in the weight already, he turned to the blond, saying simply, "Get on."

Naruto's eyes widened for a moment, having forgotten that, oh yeah, he was going to be riding that dark, glistening thing. Taking a step so he was at it's side and in position, he put his hands on the seat behind Sasuke and hoisted himself up clumsily. Pointedly ignoring the awkward position it put the two of them in, of course. "This is the first time I've ever been on a motorcycle, by the way," he informed the Uchiha.

"Obviously."

* * *

Questions, praise, and constructive criticism are always welcome! Not to mention that nice reviews help feed my ego, LOL. 


	3. Starlit Dust

**Author's Note:** Yo! 'Sup guys? I'm sorry for the long wait for a chapter. I was unexpectedly busy battling grouchy sisters, slow anime dowloads, botched romantic affairs, and cold pasta, and so I ended up with a writer's block when I got time to work anyway. This thing just _didn't_ want to be written!

But whatever. We fought, I won. You get a new chapter. Which I want to decicate to Phoe-chan, 'cause she's friggin' awesome.

Speaking of reviewers, I still want to give a large, massive THANKS to all the wonderful people who read and review. Your encouragement is infinitely appreciated! -_love_-

(ed. 1x)

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai, violence, cursing, plot holes, blah blah blah, the usual. For this chapter specifically, lots of dust. Get a mask.

**Everything else:** See first chapter. -_laziness-_

Ch. 3 : **Starlit Dust**

"You can really drive one of these things?" Naruto gaped at the gleaming, black motorcycle that stood impassively around the back of the dormitory, glaring harshly at as many passer-bys as it could. The two boys had synonymously decided that they couldn't just walk all the way to the dojo lugging a suitcase, a duffel bag, and a backpack behind them, so Sasuke had generously taken it upon himself to provide transportation.

The dark-haired boy nodded, looking around the makeshift garage (which he and Itachi had assembled shortly after they'd moved into the dorms) for something to secure the suitcases with. Spotting a long spool of rope hanging on the wall, he immediately grabbed and unwound it to its full length. He then went back to the bike, locating and releasing the lever at the rear, which enabled him to raise two small, metal platforms to portruding from the end of the body, one vertically and the other horizontally. Once it was fully arranged, he relocked the stand in place.

"Uzumaki," he called, tonelessly. He watched as the blond's head snapped up from gazing at the bike, and once sure he had his attention, he commanded, "get the suitcase and put it up here, and then hold it there."

Though a bit put off at the idea of being ordered around, especially by a human jerk whom he barely knew yet, Naruto did as he was told, hauling the heavy case up to rest on the table-like appendage, gently, as if afraid that it would break. "Will that thing really hold? It looks too puny to hold up such a huge piece of baggage."

"Oh, it'll hold," Sasuke reassured him, tying the rope to a thick pin beneath the metal ensemble with a firm, unrelenting knot. After winding the rope across and over the case tightly several times, he instructed the still doubtful boy to let go and add the smaller duffel. He then proceeded to fix the bag to the bike in a similar fashion with the remainder of the rope, knotting the butt end of the rope to a middle segment. "I should know, I assembled it myself."

"No way, really?" For a few moments, surprise and amazement were unabashedly displayed across Naruto's face at the skill, delicacy, and sheer amount of time it would've had to take to put together such a perfect and beautiful device. That was, however, before he remembered that he disliked the arrogant bastard who was currently examining the rest of the bike to make sure that everything was in working order. Immediately schooling his face into a scowl, he amended, "Not that it's that great or anything. You just have too much confidence in your own work."

The dark-haired boy just snorted bemusedly. With no comment to be made in reply, he wordlessly swung a leg over the seat of the bike and got himself situated, feet firmly on the ground on either side. After pushing himself forward a bit to get off the kickstand and noting the difference in the weight already, he turned to the blond, saying simply, "Get on."

Naruto's eyes widened for a moment, having forgotten that, oh yeah, he was going to be riding that dark, glistening thing. Taking a step so he was at it's side and in position, he put his hands on the seat behind Sasuke and hoisted himself up clumsily. Pointedly ignoring the awkward position it put the two of them in, of course. "This is the first time I've ever been on a motorcycle, by the way," he informed the Uchiha.

"Obviously."

"Still though, aren't I supposed to get a helmet, too?"

"I don't _have_ another one. Now just shut up and hold on." And without giving the blond time enough to babble in protest or, incidentally, to use his magic to get himself a helmet, Sasuke opened up the throttle and they were off.

"Hey, wait!" Naruto panicked for a moment, afraid for his life as their speed steadily increased and he was adamantly ignored. Finally, after what seemed like forever (but was really only a second or two), his brain registered what he'd been told to do and he wound his arms around the other boy's waist, squeezing almost desperately and squinting his eyes shut.

Of course, no one's ribs are made of steel, and an Uchiha is no exception. "You don't have to hold _that_ tight, moron!" the dark-haired boy yelled to his passenger.

Surprised at first that he could even hear anything, Naruto loosened his death-grip slightly and yelled a reply, "Well, you _could_ go a little slower! It's not like we're in a hurry or anything!"

"We're not going that fast!" Even with all the wind, Sasuke's caustic attitude was noticeable.

_I wonder if he always acts this pissy, or if it's something he does just for me? _"Yeah right, if I were standing in front of this thing, I'd be dead on impact, you crazy bastard!"

"Oh? Then why don't you go ahead and jump out there? I wouldn't object to being rid of you," said crazy bastard suggested in response, and, just to spite him, and because there was no one around so late at night to see, he actually sped up.

The younger boy gasped and swallowed a chunk of air as he felt the additional acceleration, resuming his rib-cracking hold around Sasuke's waist and pressing his shoulders and head against the leather coat. "Gee, thanks, Uchiha, I hate you, too!"

Sasuke just smirked, and when he chuckled, Naruto could feel it against his cheek. He was actually more comfortable being flush against the boy as he was, noting that not only did his back function as a shield from most of the wind, but it was a whole lot warmer, too. After all, it was late October! It was cold enough when there wasn't wind coming at you at 45 mph! In fact, the blond was perfectly content staying right where he was the whole ride, except for when they hit a red light.

There was a car in the lane next to them with a middle-aged couple inside, and when they saw Naruto clinging to Sasuke like a second skin on the back of the shiny, black motorcycle, there'd been a clear _What the hell? _on both of their faces. The Uzumaki had immediately detached himself (more or less) and waved, grinning sheepishly despite the blush on his whiskered face. The pair hadn't seem moved, but the driver had turned back to the road with confusion still staining his features. And before Naruto knew it, they'd been moving again and he let out a short yelp, winding his arms once again around Sasuke's midsection.

But that was about the extent of the eventfulness of their trip. Within ten minutes they arrived at the dojo — or, what _used_ to be a dojo. It more resembled a series of overgrown shacks, now, they saw once they'd walked through the gate and saw the hulking complex in its entirety.

_This is it? _Naruto thought. When he'd envisioned it back by the dormitory, he'd been sure it would be in much better shape. As it was, he was almost afraid to go near it for fear of having it randomly up and collapse on him.

The dojo itself was made up of three buildings attached together, all of which seemed to be falling apart. Slabs of stone hung out, dented, in several places. Shingles had fallen off the rooves and broken, lying strewn about the (rather large) yard, and the roof of one of the smaller buildings looked like it had already fallen through in a few places. Weeds had taken over the grass and flora, and dead branches lay scattered from storms that the trees couldn't quite survive. The wooden fences had been completely knocked over in areas, their planks broken in others, and in some places even completely missing. The paint, which had once been fine and stately, was now chipped, scuffed, scratched, and abused in general. And that was just the outside.

The two boys walked through the courtyard in relative silence, the only sounds permeating the tense, evening silence other than a slow-chirping cricket being the soft taps of their shoes on the cracked and moss-flooded stone pathway to the main building and the rustle of fabric as the bags they carried rubbed and bumped against their bodies. A cold breeze disturbed the leaves that liberally coated the ground, but even their gentle swishing seemed muted, with the moon brighter than usual and leaving the earth bathed in a thin, bluish veil of light and corresponding shadows, with inky blackness in the crevices that the moonlight couldn't worm its way into.

_This is _beyond_ creepy, _Naruto couldn't help but think as they reached the wooden steps that led up to the sliding doors. _The doors... yet again something that's bent, punctured, and deformed... I'm surprised they were never boarded up or anything. Ha, the local authorities were probably too creeped out to come near the place._ But he wasn't, oh no. He boldly applied his sneaker to the first step, finding delightedly that it didn't crumble beneath him. _One step at a time, Uzumaki..._ He made it two more stairs before encountering a slight glitch in his plan: the next step had fallen through, and the one after that wasn't looking too stable, either. After a moment of contemplation, he decided to take his chances on the unstable step, and lifted a foot to it carefully. He found, however, that even the slightest amount of pressure on it produced a _very_ disturbing creak. _And yet we have no other choice but to stay here (me and my big mouth), because mister bad-ass over there is socially challenged and can't — or won't — make friends._

Sasuke, meanwhile, hadn't even begun to attempt the stairs. He'd recognized almost immediately that any effort to climb them would be futile, as a one-by-one approach like Naruto was trying would just get him stuck on the third step, and a jump from there to the railed, wooden walkway that lined the perimeter of the building would be useless as well since the walkway looked like it would give way upon impact if the step they jumped off of didn't first. So he was looking around for another way up when the hushed voice of his companion drew his eyes back.

"Maybe you should go first?" Naruto murmured, though even he didn't understand why he was being so quiet. Ordinarily, he'd use his boisterous personality to break and dispel the nervous silence, but here, it somehow felt like by being loud, or really even making a sound at all, he was desecrating someone's grave. And that analogy was so creepy that... did he just shudder? Oh boy.

Sasuke smirked, having just spotted a part of the railing a little ways past the blond where the wood had been broken through, splintered fragments lying haplessly on the earth below. "Why, when you're already up there?" But that didn't mean it wouldn't be amusing to see the annoyingly orange-clad boy make a total fool out of himself over something as trivial as a creaky stair. "Don't tell me you're afraid."

Naruto suddenly puffed out his chest, predictably. "I'm not a coward!" he exclaimed, though still far short of his usual decible level. Taking a deep, quick breath, he put his foot once again on the unstable step, applying pressure slowly until he dared no more, which was still quite far from his whole body weight. "It's just that... there could be blood-sucking spiders and giant, mutated cockroaches under there and I wouldn't want to... disturb their habitat by falling through, now would I?" _Damnit! This'll give that bastard lisence to make fun of me for the rest of my life!_

His smirk growing slightly, the Uchiha let a low chuckle escape his throat, sounding more mocking than amused though really it was both. "Sure, Uzumaki. Come on, then, away from the scary bugs."

And with that, Sasuke began making his way over to the opening in the rail. As he passed the blond on the stairs, however, a number of things happened in quick succession. First, Naruto, in trying to get to the ground quickly, managed to shift his weight in exactly the right way to make the shaky step collapse beneath his foot. Second, and consequent to the first, the clumsy deity's balance was lost and he was sent falling into the hole where the two steps should've been. And third, Sasuke caught the two former events out of the corner of his eye and, with speed of that would make even other martial artists gape, covered the distance between himself and the other boy and grabbed the nearest flailing arm firmly. He then tugged none-too-gently on the said arm, rescuing the Uzumaki boy from certain death-by-cockroach.

A high-pitched yelp resounded through the dojo grounds as Naruto's weight was pulled backward, gravity not allowing enough time for him to catch his balance before falling toward the dark-haired boy. Sasuke, braced himself for the impact, and, when it came, had only to step one foot back to keep standing. Thus, when the blond regained his bearings, he found himself against Sasuke's chest, nearly nose-to-nose if he hadn't been so short, with two hands firmly grasping his upper arms. If those hands wound themselves around his waist, Naruto realized, it could've been called an embrace.

"Idiot."

Yeah right. The only person who'd ever embraced him was Umino Iruka, and that fact probably wasn't going to change any time soon. Hell, if it was Uchiha Sasuke, he wasn't sure he _wanted_ it to change.

And with that in mind, he pulled himself from the warmth of the other boy and crossed his arms. "Well who asked you to play the hero? I definitely don't need you."

Dark eyes glinted smugly. "Fine, then I guess you can find your own way into the dojo." Sasuke then calmly resumed his path toward the opening, leaving a sputtering Naruto in his wake.

"You mean you've known a way in this whole time!"

"Not the _whole_ time. Just most of it."

Naruto silently seethed for a moment, muttering 'bastard' under his breath a few times before coaxing his temper to subside to a functional level, and then taking steps to follow the said bastard. He watched as the agitating boy climbed onto the wooden ledge nimbly. _He moves so... gracefully, like he's really sure of himself. Like he does this stuff every day. Smug bastard._

Copying his companion's movements, the blond hauled himself up onto the walkway, then followed Sasuke to the front doors. Well, what _used_ to be the front doors. Of the two, one was bent and had two of its panels punctured completely, and the other was bent in a way that made it look like an over-sized accordion, the wooden borders snapped everywhere. Neither one would slide anymore. Thankfully, the accordion-style bending of the one left plenty of room to squeeze in through the entrance, as Sasuke so deftly demonstrated (Naruto a little less deftly because of the large bag on his back).

Once inside, the Uchiha dropped his luggage onto one of the worn mats. If he'd thought the outside was a mess, the inside was a _disaster_. And he was sure he wasn't even seeing the full extent of the damage because of the darkness, which the moonlight could not penetrate.

The once-white walls were covered in the brown and gray of years of dust and water damage. The water had also caused some of the wooden wall planks to rot, giving the place a dank, heavy smell — the smell of death. The wooden ceiling had suffered much the same fate, though it should've been protected by what remained of the roof tilings and rafters. The sliding doors of the back entrance were also in shambles, though they seemed more or less in tact enough to function. Most of the tatami was torn and dirty or dislocated altogether. One mat even appeared to have been thrown against the far wall opposite where Sasuke stood. What looked like it had been a wooden sword rack had fallen to the floor and broken. The swords themselves were nowhere in sight, probably stolen by some audacious thief who was brave enough to loot the place.

Sasuke contemplated briefly whether or not it may have been a thief who'd reduced the dojo to such shambles, but decided quickly that no mere thief would be capable of inflicting such damage, even if he _had_ been desperate enough for goods to tear the place apart.

The two boys were suddenly startled as a quiet drip came from what seemed like everywhere as it echoed off the abused walls. A few moments later, another drip resounded. There was no movement as an invisible bleakness engulfed and smothered the two teens. Sasuke wanted to cough.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity among the dank dripping and suffocating dust which seemed to digest the room, a flash of orange erupted from behind him. He watched, mildly surprised, as Naruto darted for the back doors, nearly tripping on one of the dislocated mats in the process. The boy struggled with the latch for a moment, and then violently threw the doors open, allowing moonlight to pierce the dark silence. The heaviness and dank smell immediately began to dissipate, and Sasuke could feel his breath return.

Silently thanking the blond, he cast his dark eyes around the room again, now that it was bathed in the dimly comforting light of the moon. It looked even more ghastly and run-down than before.

A spot to the left of the main entrance which had been too dark to see previously was now visible. Easily the most decimated place in the whole room, it seemed to have been a sort of shrine. _Have been_. Most of the wood and paper ornaments that had hung before it were now torn or gone. The wooden altar was broken in half, and the mantle-piece lay on the floor among shards of glass and wood from picture frames, ornaments from on and above the shrine, shattered pieces of a porcelain vase, and the long dead flowers that had once lived in it. A tattered wall scroll hung, ripped disgracefully, with the ends curling and coated with a thick layer of dust, so that what the scroll displayed wasn't even visible.

"Whoa," Naruto's voice shook as it permeated Sasuke's thoughts. He almost hadn't even noticed the blue-eyed boy sidle up next to him. He was standing close, a sign that he was nervous. The deity chuckled, but it didn't convince either of them. "I didn't think it'd be this bad."

"I didn't either," Sasuke confessed. In the ray of moonlight, all the dust they'd swept up into the air was clearly visible, like an ethereal wave of stardust. _That_ was unnerving even to him.

"It's weird," Naruto continued, "The walls of this place seem like they're... crying out. I can feel it. Saying that they've seen horror." The god felt a shudder rip through him at the desperation that had gripped him as soon as he'd begun to reach out and feel for the spirit of the edifice. "It looks like this place went through a war or something. Do you think all this was really caused by natural deterioration?"

Sasuke left Naruto's side and made his way over to the ruins of the shrine. The younger boy didn't follow him, but he felt those nervous blue eyes on him nonetheless. In fact, he felt like he was being watched all around, from every direction. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and he was pretty sure he was getting goosebumps. _Annoying old spirits..._ he though exasperatedly as he began to examine the remains of the altar.

It was just out of curiosity, really. But he couldn't shake the feeling that the damage, at least the damage done to this area, was done purposely, just as Naruto was probably suspsecting, too. He bent down on one knee, looking at the shattered glass of a picture frame, from which the picture was apparently gone. The glass was scattered widely and unevenly, confirming his suspicions. _This wasn't gravity. The only way to make it break like that would've been to throw it to the ground, and with exceptional force._

Then another thing caught his eye — the mantle piece that lay on the floor. The end that had been severed seemed to have been cut almost smoothly. As if... "This was done with a katana. And the slice is far too clean to be accidental." He got to his feet, knowing his companion was listening. "That picture frame was also broken purposely. And here," he gestured to the main altar, "the way this is smashed... it's like someone struck it with a metal bat, or got thrown into it."

He heard the echo of tennis shoes on the wooden floor again, as they stopped a little ways from him. "So what you're saying is that this shrine was destroyed purposely? But why?"

"How should I know?" Sasuke replied, a little irked that he'd be expected to have the answers to everything. Moving closer to the wall to the left of the altar, he tried to take a better look at the wall scroll. _Maybe it would help if we knew who it was a shrine to, _he thought, figuring that perhaps the wall scroll would have a name or picture of the person or deity that was being honored on it. From what he could see of the scroll, it was white (or was at one time). He caught a glimpse of red hidden beneath the curled bottom edge. Touching it lightly, he frowned as his fingertips came away coated in a thin layer of silt. He placed his fingers on it more firmly and began to roll the end down, all out grimacing as he felt the dust stick and slide against his skin. As it unraveled, he found that the edge was smoothly diagonal, and lined up with a deep gash in the wood behind it. The scroll was also sliced with a katana.

"Your war theory might be more realistic than you think," the Uchiha stated quietly. "Some kind of battle definitely took place here."

On the scroll, a circular fan with a red upper half and white lower half was displayed, with its bottom partially sliced off. The symbol of the Uchiha clan, the mark of Sasuke's family.

* * *

tbc...

**Preview:**

Sasuke was on the last nail when he felt the first droplet of water hit his back. The one drop quickly turned into a few more, and a few more, and before he had finished a soft drizzle was already falling. He knew immediately that the rain would complicate things, namely his getting down. He was pretty far up on the roof, away from the ladder, and it was hard enough not to slip on the shingles when they weren't being rained on. He'd need to be even more careful, if that was possible.

Knowing he'd need both hands, he left the flashlight nestled in its little crook and concentrated on using the shingles as handholds without pulling them out. It was difficult with them overlapping downward, since it meant his feet had nothing to hold on to. It made his hands the most important part of his body.

Of course, when the first really heavy drop landed on the back of his head, the jolt dislodged the flashlight. And his first reflex was to catch it before it fell. With his hands.

* * *

Oh no! Klutzy Sasuke! Will Naruto run to his rescue or will he be eaten alive by giant dust amoebas first? Review and tune in next time to find out! 


	4. Receiving the Rain

**Author's Note:** Okay, so that was definitely longer than two weeks. I'M SORRY! I'd bake you all cookies to express my most sincere apologies, but the postage to send one to each of you individually would be a bit pricey. So you'll just have to accept my wholly unworthy Times New Roman.

As far as this chapter goes: It in itself wasn't really such a pain in the ass to write as was the first half of the chapter after it, which I typically write before posting so I have something to put in the preview. Also, I'd originally planned to make this chapter span more time and events, but my writing is so damn loquacious that I had to cut it off early. And it's _still_ the longest chapter yet. Enjoy.

**Warnings for this chapter:** Vague shady people and bitchy Uchihas.

**Everything else:** See first chapter. _-laziness-_

Ch. 4: **Receiving the Rain**

"Enter, Itachi-kun." Bright, dangerous eyes watched as the door opened silently and Itachi's figure made its way into the lightless room. "You've come bearing your report, I presume."

"You probably know, working in the dark like this will make you go blind."

A barely audible scoff. "You should be more respectful, Uchiha. Now, the whereabouts of the boy."

"Ishikawa¹ Dojo."

"Ah. With Uchiha Sasuke?

Itachi felt those malevolent eyes burning through him. "Yes."

"With one of those legendary hybrids so near our grasp, perhaps it would be prudent to snatch the boy before he has the chance to move away. What do you think, Itachi-kun?"

Itachi could practically feel the smirk spread across his superior's face. Like a disease. "If my theory is correct, the boy in question will not move far from us any time soon. It may be wiser to continue searching for other targets than to rest on our laurels and allow one of the others to escape us."

"Such as? Have you sensed any others nearby?"

"Yes. The Badger. It will be approximately two weeks until it arrives here, and I estimate a window of just a few days in which we will be able to capture it."

"I see." The man's voice was low and deliberate, indicating that he was considering his options. "However, two weeks should be more than enough time to capture the blonde one. Which is it?"

"The Fox."

For a moment, all movement in the room stopped. Even the air that had been being disturbed by the twirl of a pen stilled. This confused Itachi -- why should this news evoke such a reaction?

A dark chuckle resounded and quickly fell. When the man spoke, he sounded almost amused. "Is that so? Then his heredity heralds him as the strongest and most cunning of the nine."

"He seems quite young."

"His power is still underdeveloped and poorly understood." The aura of the room suddenly turned business-like. "The others will be gathered. We'll meet to discuss what will become of these two creatures. Most likely, you will recieve orders to either capture or test the strength of the Fox, so I personally advise you to prepare yourself."

Within the safety of his mind, Itachi frowned. Assuming he'd been dismissed, he turned to leave, but was stopped short by the now ominous voice of his leader.

"Itachi-kun, as the only one among us with such a crucial ability, I rely on you more than I like. If you were to betray me, there would be consequences." He paused, as if to let his words hang a moment in the air for full effect, before adding almost mockingly, "Just a warning."

Itachi nodded as loosely as he could, and left.

* * *

"What makes you say that?" Naruto asked bemusedly, peering over his companion's shoulder. "Do you know that picture means?"

Sasuke nodded, lightly brushing his already dust-coated fingers over the wall scroll once more before removing his hand entirely. The bottom again began its slow curl upward. "It's an old clan symbol. It hasn't been used in almost ten years, though, since the family itself was almost completely wiped out in a massacre." He looked back to the desecrated altar. "This must've been a memorial to the clan. I'm guessing whoever used to live here must've known someone who was killed that day."

The blond was momentarily stunned as he took in the information. A whole clan, annihilated in one day? Who could've done such a thing? And why? "I still don't get it. What clan was it? Why would someone want to trash a shrine to it?"

Sighing irritably, Sasuke turned away from the dark corner of the room and began walking toward the back doors, through which the moonlight had suddenly seemed dampened. "Once again, how the hell would I know why it was destroyed? You ask too many questions, idiot."

"Well forgive me for being curious, bastard!" the Uzumaki huffed. He immediately made his way over to the bags the dark-haired boy had discarded earlier (more carefully this time so he didn't trip over the overlapping mats). Though he wouldn't admit it in a thousand years, he didn't like being anywhere in the place without Sasuke at his side. The aura, especially around the ruined shrine, was ridiculously creepy, and kept making him feel like he needed to put on more layers of clothing. Frankly, it was bugging the hell out of him. _It's just for one night... Just for one night..._

He slipped Sasuke's backpack off his shoulders. As he set it onto the floor with the other bags, he couldn't help but notice how much lighter he felt. The lack of physical heaviness on his shoulders almost seemed to lessen the emotional heaviness he'd been subjected to upon entering the dojo, and he almost felt like he was floating as he moved to join the Uchiha near the doors.

Sasuke was standing remarkably still, as if he were entranced. Catching sight of his face, Naruto was slightly shocked to see his expression. He was staring out, up at the sky, his inky eyes held more emotion than Naruto would've guessed possible judging by the first impression he was presented with. The usually impassive boy now seemed almost sad, the way his eyebrows furrowed, but turned up near the middle and his eyes seemed a little more moist (maybe it was the dim light?). His lips turned down just slightly in a way that couldn't even be described as a frown, and stuck out just short of a light pout.

_That's not an expression of sadness, really, _Naruto realized absently. _It's more like one of rememberance. Something about the shrine must've jogged his memory._

The last wisps of moonlight began to fade as the thinly transparent clouds that had puddled the sky became thicker and more foreboding. And suddenly, Sasuke seemed to sense Naruto's presence.

"What are you staring at?" the former barked, his solemn look retreating abruptly into the recesses of his body.

"N-Nothing! Damn, can't a guy even look out into the backyard?" Naruto rolled his eyes, more out of nerves and inability to look the elder boy in the eye than actual agitation. Sure, he had every right to be pissy toward the guy for having such an edgy, stuck-up attitude and most certainly exploited that right, but the treatment was nothing that he was unfamiliar with. And besides, Sasuke's bitchiness seemed to be inherent, not solely directed at him.

Running a hand through his dark mop of hair, the said bitchy human heaved a light sigh, feeling his stress level rocket. He didn't want to remember right then. What he wanted was to go to sleep, wake up, and find that his whole life had been a bad dream. "It looks like it's going to rain later. Closing these doors should keep most of the wind out, but we'll need to patch up the hole in the roof, too, unless we want to wake up lying in a half a foot of water."

Naruto agreed wholeheartedly, the prospect of an overnight swim not really settling well with him.

So together they scrounged up some cleaning and repair items from a closet in one of the smaller adjoined buildings (which presumably comprised the actual living apartment of the dojo). Luckily, the steps leading out the back seemed to be in fair condition, so getting in and out was no problem. The discussion as to who would do what was brief -- Sasuke looked at Naruto and pointed to the roof, while Naruto shook his head and laughed nervously, saying he'd just sweep out some of the dust and try to fit the tatami back in place so they'd have room to lay down comfortably. Sasuke mumbled that Naruto was an idiot and went off with the flashlight to find a ladder. Naruto mumbled that Sasuke was a jerk for taking the flashlight, scrounged up the candles from the shrine that were still usable, and went off to find some matches.

Soon enough, they were both hard at work. Sasuke was trying to nail a piece of broken wood to the roof while simultaneously holding the flashlight in the crook between his ear and shoulder and trying not to either slip on the slimy roof tiles or smash the roof itself in such a way that it would give out and send him straight through the hole in the rafters to the floor of the dojo, where Naruto was using a dilapidated old broom to sweep the dust into a pile by the back door. The blonde was coming up with a digustingly monstrous pile that almost seemed to have legs and arms and teeth, and kept getting partially scattered again every time a breeze from the oncoming shower came through the room.

Sasuke was on the last nail when he felt the first droplet of water hit his back. The one drop quickly turned into a few more, and a few more, and before he had finished a soft drizzle was already falling. He knew immediately that the rain would complicate things, namely his getting down. He was pretty far up on the roof, away from the ladder, and it was hard enough not to slip on the shingles when they weren't being rained on. He'd need to be even more careful, if that was possible.

Knowing he'd need both hands, he left the flashlight nestled in its little crook and concentrated on using the shingles as handholds without pulling them out. It was difficult with them overlapping downward, since it meant his feet had nothing to hold on to. It made his hands the most important part of his body.

Of course, when the first really heavy drop landed on the back of his head, the jolt dislodged the flashlight. And his first reflex was to catch it before it fell. With his hands.

* * *

Naruto had finally deigned the room as dust-free as it was going to get for the night, having not only swept the floor, but run the broom over the walls and doors as well. He'd managed to get it all consolidated into a pile beside the backdoor, waiting to be swept across the threshold and into the grass to later become dirt. It was probably originally dirt in the first place, having gone dry during the hot summer and been kicked up by animals or the occassional audacious child.

_I bet it's pretty here in the spring and summer,_ he thought, _even with all the damage. After all, the area is surrounded by trees, and with all the plants that grew out of control, I bet there'd be a lot of flowers. It wouldn't look so much like a graveyard, just... old, like 'antique' old._

Suddenly, he heard a loud clattering, coming from above him.

_The roof? That bastard is up there._

According to what he'd seen so far of the Uchiha, he seemed graceful, skilled, and annoyingly overconfident, perfectly able to nail a plank of wood in place. There was no need to worry. Right?

A yell.

_Wrong! Oh crap, he'd better not have done anything stupid!_

As soon as he threw himself out the door and gasped, he almost wished he hadn't. After all, he'd hoped to see that Sasuke was still sitting on the roof, maybe having dropped the hammer or something (because then Naruto could toss it back up the him and make fun of how clumsy the jerk was) -- definitely _not_ that the dark-haired boy was hanging over 15 feet in the air by nothing but a few fingers on a slippery shingles.

_Uh-oh, I've gotta do something!_ "Uchiha!"

At the sound of his name, Sasuke snapped his head downward, only to result in him losing what little grip on the roof he'd had left.

_Oh shit, wrong thing to do!_ Naruto began panicking as the other boy's fingers gave way and sent him falling. _Something, something, please I've gotta- the dust!_

A sweep of his forearm, quick as lightning. A mumbled incantation. A prayer that Oh Heaven _please_ let my power work...!

Sasuke's mind had practically blanked out. As far as he was concerned, he was going to die. Or be seriously injured. Neither of which were very pleasant nor what he'd planned to do when he'd woken up that morning. Not that it really mattered. He was dying. Right here. Right now. He was--

...Floating.

He looked to see what the hell had happened, why there were no broken bones yet. He found that he was floating on _something_, but it wasn't very thick, or very visible. It was... dust? It was dust. He was literally floating on a cloud. Talk about cliché.

And then he was falling again. It wasn't dangerous anymore, only a few feet from the ground. In fact, the only damage incurred was that his pants got dirty. Getting to his feet, he brushed himself off and turned to face the only possible explanation for such a phenomenon.

The blond was standing on the steps just outside the back doors of the dojo, both hands extended, as if his body was frozen in position. Sasuke couldn't tell whether it was sweat or rain that coated the boy's brow, but he was pretty sure that the reason Naruto was shaking like a leaf wasn't because of the cold.

"Uzumaki?"

Blue eyes suddenly seemed to flicker back to life. Naruto's arms dropped back to his sides and he was immediately jogging toward his companion still standing under the rain. "Uchiha! Are you okay?"

The worry on the blond's face was plain as day, and Sasuke suddenly realized that he'd been _rescued_, like some weak little girl who couldn't take care of herself. He found himself getting angry. After all, how was he supposed to face up to his brother if people were saving him all the time? And deep down, what made him angriest was that he'd actually _needed_ to be saved.

Naruto noticed the abrupt change in Sasuke's mood. He'd gone from slightly confused to blindingly furious in a matter of moments, and even though he'd just gotten to the Uchiha, he almost felt the need to step back. _What the hell is he on about?_ "Uchiha?"

"Idiot," Sasuke seethed, "Don't ever do that again!"

_What! Well, of all the stupid, arrogant, asshole, stubborn...!_ Naruto's attitude suddenly mirrored the other boy's, and he clenched his fists in an effort to hold back his temper. "Hey! I just saved your ungrateful ass! The least you could do is say-"

"I didn't ask you to!" Sasuke cut him off, his dark eyes sparking with... something. "If you hadn't come along, my 'ungrateful ass' wouldn't have needed saving in the first place!"

That was partially true, Naruto realized. After all, if he hadn't gotten the two of them kicked out of Sasuke's dormitory, they wouldn't have had to come to such a run-down old place to stay the night, and no one would've had to be put in danger. But then again... "Well, if you hadn't made such a stupid wish, I wouldn't have had to come along!"

Sasuke's teeth immediately stopped grinding. After all, that fact was completely unavoidable. Even Sasuke must've realized by then that Naruto had been telling the truth, that he really was exactly what he'd said he was. And with that epiphany probably came the one about the blond _actually_ having to stay with Sasuke forever, as per his disbelieving wish. Not to mention that if Uzumaki was anything like him, being tied to his polar opposite for all of time wasn't his cup of tea, either.

"...Whatever. Sorry."

Rain poured down all around them, the droplets multiplying by the minute. The two boys were getting completely soaked. The water was becoming cold and heavy, and their clothes weren't much defense against it, although Sasuke's leather jacket was doing a much better job than Naruto's hoodie. Their hair was stuck to their faces, and rainwater dripped across the skin of their faces in small rivers. The breeze had turned into a light, but freezing wind.

The deity sighed. In a way, he figured, the agitating firmness of that moment was sort of like finalizing the contract.

There was a listless rustling in the air, from the trees whose branches were jostled against each other. It was a calming sound, almost like the rushing of ocean waves upon sand. The wind seemed to form a sort of melody as it blew, stronger here, just barely there, and then strong again. During powerful gusts, the dojo itself creaked uneasily, adding a new instrument to the little symphony. _Pitter patter swish, swoosh drip creak, swoosh creeeak..._

"That shrine," Sasuke quietly added to the song. His voice was above the rain, but below the creaking; it sort of seemed to complete the harmony. "That family."

Naruto lifted his gaze to the other teen's face only to see it looking toward the wet earth solemnly, damp raven hair clinging the sides of Sasuke's jaw and cheeks. As if sensing his attention, however, coal-colored eyes looked up to meet his levelly and Naruto was suddenly accosted with the emptiest expression he'd ever seen.

"It was mine."

Naruto's brain took a minute to register what had been said. Did that mean... Sasuke's whole family was dead? Except him and his older brother? His eyes widened as the realization his him full force, and the loneliness he'd felt buried inside the Uchiha the first time they'd met made perfect sense.

_"It's an old clan symbol. It hasn't been used in almost ten years, though, since the family itself was almost completely wiped out in a massacre."_

_"After Itachi, there's nothing."_

Sasuke had no one. He was virtually all alone in the world.

Sasuke was just like him.

After a few moments, Naruto was able to gather his wits about him and feel the cold rain on his head and back again. He tried to block thoughts of Sasuke's family from his mind, figuring that the dark-eyed boy wouldn't want him to think too much on it. _Just forget about it. He didn't tell me so he could be pitied. Hell, pity was the last thing I wanted. I just wanted... someone by my side._

Heaving a sigh, the blond made his way over to a darker part of grass, where the fallen flashlight glinted softly. The Uchiha's eyes remained downcast while Naruto retrieved the now wet device, and only journeyed upward again when the shorter boy reappeared before him, a dirty hand outstretched and the metal cylinder grasped within it.

"Here's your flashlight."

_And now, he's got me._

Sasuke accepted the proffered item wordlessly, then watched as the Uzumaki boy turned to walk back to the dojo, his arms folded behind his head, face tilted up to receive the rain. The young god was proving to be such an enigma. How could someone who wore his heart on his sleeve be so difficult to read? One minute, he was stupid, obnoxious, and klutzy, and the next he was gentle, tactful, and uncannily perceptive.

Was he himself so obvious? Did his preferences show on his face? Sasuke had already allowed himself to be convinced of the goose tale that such an irritating, immature boy was really a deity. There was no way he could be persuaded into believing that the boy was intuitive as well.

"Uzumaki."

At the sound of his name, Naruto twisted to face the other boy once more.

"Have you been reading my mind?"

The blond seemed stunned for a moment, as if wondering why the hell Sasuke would ask such a thing. Suddenly, however, a glint of some kind of understanding dawned in his eyes and a grin spread across his face. "No," he replied easily. "I mean, you told me not to before, and, well, it's not like you're my master or anything, but I'm not an asshole."

Sasuke _really_ wanted to believe that, for his privacy's sake if nothing else, but that would require acknowledging the possibility that Naruto was a much more complex person that he'd initially been lead to believe. He might not be able to hate him so much after all.

"Yo, you should probably come inside, before you get all sick and stuff. I won't take care of your stupid ass if you catch a cold from standing out there too long!"

...On the other hand, he'd better not assume anything.

Rolling his eyes petulantly and regaining some of his usual attitude, Sasuke followed his blue-eyed companion into the dojo.

They found that the board they'd used to seal the hole in the roof worked rather well; the room stayed as dry as they'd first found it, with the exception of the water their shoes ushered in from the wet grass outside. The room wasn't really comfortable, _per se_, but it worked well enough.

After settling in for the night (which consisted of dragging out the thin blanket that Sasuke had brought and spreading it onto the floor while Naruto set up a few more candles and whined about being hungry), the two boys were finally able to relax before hitting the sac.

"Where do you suppose we'll go tomorrow?" Naruto wondered from atop the blanket.

Sasuke shifted uneasily, facing anwhere but toward the ruins of the shrine. In truth, he hated how uncertain the situation made him. He didn't know where they could stay, he didn't know how they were going to keep food in their stomachs... hell, he didn't even know how they were going to accomplish bathing. Survival was their new mission, first and foremost.

"Well, first, we should probably get something to eat," he decided. "I have enough money to last us for probably a week or so -- assuming you don't eat like a pig -- but after that, we'll be in the red. Which means that one or both of us is going to need to get a job. And tomorrow I'll talk to Kakashi-sensei and see if he can get us someplace to stay that at least has running water."

Naruto attempted to process all this, but his mind was still stuck on the word 'job'. He'd never had a job before in his life, even in Heaven. Sure, coming down to grant the Uchiha's wish was sort of like work, but that was an unexpected gig that he only agreed to because Sakura-chan asked it of him. He wasn't even a god of First Class rank.

Sasuke watched Naruto's internal struggle with amusement. "What's with the face, idiot? Never worked before?"

Blushing faintly, the blond sputtered an embarrassed response. "I-It's not that, no! I've worked plenty! In fact, I'm the hardest worker you'll ever find!"

The dark-haired boy tried to smother a sarcastic chuckle and failed, a smirk stretching across his features. "I bet gods don't even have jobs in Heaven."

"They do so! Sakura-chan works as an Yggdrasil system maintainer, and Iruka-sensei is the head of the Earth Assistance Center! Even Konohamaru has a job!"

Although the other names struck no bells, Sasuke did remember the name 'Sakura' from Naruto's earlier babblings, and he couldn't deny that he was just a _little_ curious about the way Heaven operated. "And what about you? You grant wishes?"

"I..." Naruto halted his words, contemplating what he should really say. After all, he was going to be with the other boy for a _while_. It would probably be a bad idea to start off their relationship by lying. On the other hand, though, he _really_ didn't want to divulge his circumstances if he didn't absolutely have to. And so, with a wide grin, he gushed ostentatiously, "Actually, I have a top secret job in Heaven, and it's the best one there is!"

The older boy didn't believe that for a second, of course. Not only did Naruto seem far too incompetent to perform any sort of high rank job, but he doubted that the garishly loud brat could be trusted to keep anything secret hidden for long. And furthermore, if he were truly as inexpendable as he claimed, his superiors most likely wouldn't allow him to come down here and risk losing his services should something like this happen.

His conclusions all pointed in one direction: Naruto didn't want to tell him. Sure, he was curious, but...

_He _was_ considerate toward me about my family. I'll just forget about it for now. He'll probably spill it eventually anyway._

"If you say so, idiot," Sasuke replied mockingly, though obviously conceding the topic as he lifted the edge of the blanket and slipped his body under it. "Just go to sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

The blue-eyed boy watched as Sasuke turned away from him and curled into the fabric (as best as he could with Naruto still sitting on half the blanket).

Though he knew that Sasuke was right and he should probably do as was suggested, he made no effort to join the other boy under the blanket. His head was too full of jibberish to even try to put it down. Though his body was still, save the rise and fall of his ribcage and the fingers that idly played with one hem of the cloth he sat on, his mind was running in frantic circles inside him.

_What if I can never go back to Heaven again? I don't even think I've ever been on Earth this long for one trip, before. What if something happens to me? Or I screw something up?_

Sure, he'd been to Earth in the past. Pretty often, actually, back when he was studying to be placed in the Relief Office. He'd worked hard to pass his exams and eventually did, though with far from flying colors. After that, he spent a sort of internship on Earth, where he studied the people and their troubles in order to get a feel for how they discovered their dreams and wishes, and what common ones were. More money, a better job. For so-and-so to get well soon, for so-and-so to give me a chance in a relationship. Someone even wished for a life's supply of ramen, once-- _Wait, no, that was me._

Another thing his internship was supposed to teach was about how to distinguish between people who had good, pure hearts and those whose hearts were clouded by darkness. Supposedly, wishes were only successfully granted to those of the former category.

_So how the hell was that bastard's wish approved? Maybe I'm just reading him wrong or something. After all, my senses really aren't that great. What if his heart really _is_ more pure than it seems? Stupid, confusing, asshole, self-contradicting..._

_Yep, it was definitely a mistake to come down here. I mean, what good am I going to be for Mr. Bitchy over here? I can't even get past the fact that his wish was approved!_

_But then... I wasn't too useful in Heaven, anyway, really._

He'd been discharged from the Relief Office before even completing his first official job.

His class as a God dropped to a C and never went back up again. He went from desk job to desk job, trying to find someone who would keep him employed and failing miserably. The only ones that seemed to accept him, even as just a person, were Iruka-sensei, who'd been his teacher during his Earth-studying days before being promoted to head of the Office, and strangely enough, Sarutobi-sama, the third and present "king" of Heaven.

_Though it would be nice if I could group Sakura in there. She _sort of_ accepts me. If you consider "accepting" to be physically assaulting me every time she sees me and conning me into wearing that freakin' dress. And getting me stuck down here._

And suddenly, despite years of having the biggest crush on the pretty, pink-haired goddess, he was very, very peeved at her.

A tremendous pout erupting onto the boy's tanned face, Naruto fought the urge to bring his hands up to rip his own hair out. Instead, he looked back down to the quieted form of his "boyfriend," blanket-covered and evenly breathing. He doubted that the Uchiha was asleep yet, but he allowed himself a light sigh.

_What's going to happen to me? And Uchiha? Am I going to ruin his life?_

_

* * *

_

tbc...

**Preview:**

_What the hell is going on out there?_

Sasuke lifted himself from the floor silently, calling on well-practiced skills to keep his movements unnoticeable and inaudible, and began inching his way toward the entrance to the backyard. Once close enough, he leaned gently against the wall next to the door, and took a deep breath. Whatever was beyond that opening was going to be pretty weird, he knew. In fact, it seemed like since that afternoon, every second just got weirder.

Of course, he also knew that whatever it was, it was nothing he couldn't handle. Slowly, he craned his neck around to peer outside.

* * *

So, what the hell _is_ going on out there? Why, the scene I'd originally promised to put in _this_ chapter, of course! _-cries-_

¹ In homage to Ishikawa Goemon, both the legendary ninja _and_ the legendary Lupin III character.


	5. Falling Feathers

**Author's Note:** Yo How is everyone? I'm terribly sorry about the long wait.

This chapter has actually been done since all the way back in May! I had planned to have it beta'd, but the person never got back to me with the edit. Eventually I just decided to post the original version.

Can't be that bad, right? After all, nothing else I've done has ever been beta'd. In any case, next chapter definitely won't take so long. (It's been started for a while.)

edited 08.04.06 - Many thanks to **Berry**, who reminded me about Sasuke's clothes. I totally forgot to write in when he changed. -_sweat-_

**Warnings for this chapter:** Freakin' goose, this story is so slow. Five chapters already and it's only been three days or something.

**Everything else:** See first chapter. _-laziness-_

Ch. 5: **Falling Feathers**

_Pitter patter swish, swoosh drip creak, swoosh creeeak..._

The rain was still going.

_Swoosh creeeeak..._

But that wasn't what was bothering Naruto.

_Creeeeeeak..._

A deep, gutteral growl resounded from the blond's figure as he lay stagnantly beneath the blanket, his back to his apparently sleeping companion.

_For crying out loud, would you just _shut up_ already!_

Ever since he'd decided to lie down, the restless spirit of the dojo had been howling nonstop. It had grated on his nerves more and more as the night went on, and the pleading was finally becoming a bit too irritating to bear.

He wondered if it did this every night.

_Creeeeeeeak..._

_Argh, that's it!_

Ripping himself from the thin sheet of fabric he and Sasuke shared, Naruto threw his hood over his head and made his way frustratedly, yet as quietly as he could muster, out the back door and into the slowing rain. Immediately being accosted with the drenching coldness he'd been anxious to get out of earlier that night, his mood worsened.

"Hey!" he shouted into the yard, "Annoyed god here, trying to get some sleep! Can't you shut up for a while!"

The silent bellowing continued. It was as if this desperation was the only thing the dojo had known for a long while.

The blond let out an exasperated sigh. His hands were already starting to freeze, so he stuffed them in the pockets of his orange hoodie as he walked further into the overgrown grass, his shoulders raised and his back hunched forward.

"Damnit, what is it you want, you old bastard!"

And then, with the help of his own words, he realized the problem.

Want. _Want_.

This dojo... had a wish.

And Naruto had to help it find it.

At first, the young deity was slightly taken aback. _Me? What the hell? What can _I_ do?_

Well, he _was_ a god, and his job was to grant wishes. Though..._ This isn't my job anymore. I'm not even technically supposed to be here, and you want me to take care of this?_

Why _should_ he do anything? It wasn't his responsibility. It wasn't even really his business, when he and Sasuke were only staying there for one night. Let someone else with more experience handle it. And besides that, he didn't even have a lisence. He could get in real trouble if it ended up altering the world too much.

_Creeeeeak..._

If only there weren't something so familiar about that howling... something he identified with.

Scowling deeply, he looked around. Well, there was no denying that the place was in shambles. It was almost beyond help, the way half the once-beautiful buildings were falling apart with age and... something else. _There's no way that all this was caused by Nature. As spiteful as she is, she's never _this_ cruel. It's like... this place was attacked. And then abandoned. Nobody even tore it down to put it out of its misery._

And suddenly, Naruto found himself sympathizing with the spirit. He knew what it felt like to be abandoned, and he knew what it felt like to be lonely. And he knew what it felt like to not be at fault, and what it felt like to be able to do nothing about it. After all, what could a pile of planks and stone do for itself?

Naruto almost doubted there was much _he_ could do. His power was ridiculously unstable, and the usable portion of said power relatively meager in comparison. If he tried to tap it, there was no telling what could happen. _And yet_...

And yet, he couldn't help it. That spirit, through its loneliness and helplessness... it was just like him. Or rather -- he gave a quick glance toward the main building, where a dark-haired teen still slept peacefully -- just like how he'd been before. He wanted to help, to ease the spirit's suffering.

The young man closed his eyes and pulled his still cold hands from his pockets to remove his hood once again, clearing his throat and fighting down a blush he knew had no rational purpose.

_I can't believe I'm doing this._

Clasping his fingers together in a prayer-like stance, he began to sing. At first, it was only a sort of quiet humming, with shy inflections that had grown rusty without use. Nervous crescendoes were masked in an effort to maintain undiscovered. Eventually, however, the young boy allowed himself a bit more audacity, clear yet wordless notes flowing seamlessly, unlocking secret, intricate pathyways he hadn't dared touch in a long time. Misty, cradling fantasies -- huge, clandestine power.

And carefully, he drew it out.

A slow warmth enveloped him, and he felt an almost sudden synchronization where usually there was nothing but chaos. Energry flowed through his body, focusing and dispersing with every breath. It became apparent that the other side of his eyelids was being bathed in a soft glow, and he knew that his power, cautiously controlled and raw with beauty, had assumed its physical form, hovering above him like a guardian angel.

_Alright, you crazy old spirit. You've got my support; it's all you now.

* * *

_

Sasuke had always been a light sleeper. When he was little, his parents used to have to sneak around the house like burglars at night so they wouldn't wake him, and still the youngest Uchiha often found himself tossing and turning in bed, trying to ignore the _pitter-patter_ of bare feet scuttling down the hall like cockroaches.

It was never Itachi that woke him. If Itachi scuttled, he was absolutely silent about it.

And so, when he was abruptly awoken by a harsh clattering, he knew immediately that it wasn't his brother. It wasn't until he found that the uncomfortably hard surface he was lying on was a tatami floor that he realized it wasn't his parents. And it wasn't until he recognized the walls to be those of the dojo he'd crashed in the night before that he remembered his parents were dead.

He sat up rigidly, but almost immediately laid back down. He felt light-headed. In fact, his whole body was tingling with a sensation he'd never felt before. It was almost as if... his very being were being pulled. It was very gentle, very airy, and so close to nonexistent that it felt nice.

He decided he'd ignore it. That clattering was still there, and his first order of business was to find out what was making that racket, then tear it to tiny pieces so he could get some sleep. After all, he figured he kind of deserved it after the hellish night he'd had. He'd been kicked out of his dormitory, forced to hole up in a creepy building, and rained on, not to mention having fallen off of said creepy building. He'd have broken his neck if it hadn't been for --

_Hold on, where's Uzumaki?_

Sitting up again suddenly, Sasuke realized that his companion had disappeared. How could he have not noticed? Was the idiot there when he woke up? No, he didn't think so. Then where could he have gone? According to the blond's own words, it couldn't have been too far...

And then, with the burst of consciousness he became aware of something else: a quiet, but steady voice coming from beyond the back door of the dojo. It was soft and melodious, and vaguely familiar, though he couldn't even begin to remember where he'd heard it before. Looking toward the source of the sound, a faint glow from the other side of the door became apparent.

_What the hell is going on out there?_

Sasuke lifted himself from the floor silently, calling on well-practiced skills to keep his movements unnoticeable and inaudible, and began inching his way toward the entrance to the backyard. Once close enough, he leaned gently against the wall next to the door, and took a deep breath. Whatever was beyond that opening was going to be pretty weird, he knew. In fact, it seemed like since that afternoon, every second just got weirder.

Of course, he also knew that whatever it was, it was nothing he couldn't handle. Slowly, he craned his neck around to peer outside.

The first things he saw were various floating objects making their way to and fro, seemingly all on their own. Pieces of wood ranging from planks to splinters, chips of long broken ceramics, shards of glass, fallen shingles, metal pipes, stones, and even paint chippings, each with their own peculiar glow about them, glided from their places strewn across the yard toward unnamed destinations.

After a few moments of observation, Sasuke's ears started picking up a clattering coming from behind him. Whipping his head around, he could only watch as the broken sword rack lifted itself from the floor, followed by fragments of the front doors and various ornaments from the shrine. As the sliding doors unbent themselves and the sword rack fastened itself to the wall above where it had laid, Sasuke's realized, his eyes widening comically: everything was being fitted back into place, in effect, reconstructing the ruins of the dojo.

He turned back toward the door. As the voice he'd been hearing grew subtly stronger, the tingling pull in his body became more difficult to ignore, though still immeasurably weak. Whatever it was, it was probably coming from the same phenomenon that was causing the dojo to rebuild itself. With a curious frustration, Sasuke brought his head fully into the doorway.

The blond with the orange hoodie and blue jeans was undeniably the Uzumaki boy he'd met that day. His hair and skin seemed to actually shine, and with his neck bowed, eyes shut, and expression soft, he looked almost... beautiful.

A part of him didn't seem to be as surprised as he thought he should've been. It was almost as if he'd known in his gut from the moment he'd woken up and found Naruto missing that the deity was the cause of the commotion. Strangely, however, Naruto was _not_ the source of the mysterious light that somehow bathed the grounds of the dojo.

The creature that hovered behind the blonde boy _defined_ beauty.

Its lower half seemed to be engulfed in a ribbony, white substance that spiraled out from Naruto's form. Pale, milky skin covered its torso, perfect and glowing, and unmarred by clothing. Its face was framed by crimson hair, shining like spider silk as it fell among its eyes and past the nape of its neck. Its eyes themselves were closed, guarded by long, reddish eyelashes, and its moist, pink lips moved softly in a matching pattern to the blonde boy's, though it still seemed that only one voice sang. Its shoulders poured themselves into thin arms, and further into graceful, flawless hands, which rested briefly at its collarbone before flowing outward in a giving motion and coming back to clasp together with its opposite, all the while mimicking the movements of the deity from whose back its body seemed to emanate. From its own back streamed shining, glorious wings, as large as perhaps Naruto's whole body and blinding in the whiteness of their feathers. They contrasted deeply to the crimson-furred appendages that flowed from its tailbone, writhing and glittering almost as if fighting with the angelic wings for the title of most beautiful.

_One, two..._ Sasuke counted. _Nine_.

And suddenly, something was different. It was as if the air had somehow become cooler, and yet the pull on him had become stronger, almost warmer. He could actually _feel_ it. Even the song seemed to have changed somehow. He glanced up to the ethereal creature's face to see if its lips were still moving, and found himself gazing into intensely fierce eyes, one blue and soft and the other harshly red, its pupil slittled like a cat's.

It was _looking_ at him.

Sasuke then realized that he was standing fully in the doorway, not concealing himself at all any longer. The song trailed off.

Naruto was looking at him, also.

But unlike the winged creature with mismatched eyes, Naruto's eyes expressed anxiety, almost horror.

Up until that point, the two beings had moved in sync with each other, but that connection ended as one of the crimson tails gave a violent swish and the arms of the entity to whom it belonged dropped quickly to its sides as if preparing for action.

Sasuke took a nervous step backward. The creature growled, so unlike its beautiful appearance that for a moment the Uchiha was unsure of its origin. Naruto's head snapped around to see the creature, its features sparked with fury, and his eyes widened in panic.

_Don't tell me he didn't know it was there...?_ That would've been a little on the far fetched side, even for the rather obtuse blonde boy, so Naruto's reaction only served to confuse him more. In the end, it seemed the only thing Sasuke could be sure about was that something was very, very wrong.

He didn't have the chance to figure out anything else before the creature rushed him.

He could barely see it, all fiercely glowing fury and pale flesh and whipping red and quick as lightning and yet _he couldn't move at all._ It was like diving into a pool of light.

And finally, he knew something else for certain.

_I'm going to die in this light._

And then it was gone in a flash of liquid white, a yell, and more falling feathers than he could ever possibly count.

He lost consciousness.

* * *

He awoke what felt like days later. His whole body felt like iron, stiff and heavy, and he had a headache. He was vaguely aware of something soft under his head, but the rest of his body lay on some uncomfortably hard surface. 

"Uchiha...?" he heard distantly. The voice was tired, but hopeful, and within a few moments, fully recognizable.

He opened his eyes to find a pair of dusty blue peering down at him from his side. There were deep bags of purpled skin beneath them.

"Uzumaki," he acknowledged.

He glanced further, past the blonde hair that ran unkempt across the nape of the boy's neck, to his shoulders, on which hung only a flimsy, black t-shirt. It was then that he noticed how indecently cold he was. Right, last he checked, it was the middle of a cold October night.

Turning his head, he looked about himself. He was back in the main building of the dojo, lying on the stiff tatami. And yet, something about the place was different.

His gaze fell on the shrine a few yards away. It was clean and sturdy. And whole.

_No way... _He fought his way into a sitting position, ignoring the sharp jolt of pain that it sent up his spine. The blanket that had been covering him shrugged down to his waist.

_But wasn't that... just a dream?_

He could barely even remember it.

"Thank Heaven," the blond's voice suddenly broke in, laughing a little. "I was starting to think I'd have to take you to a hospital!"

"What happened? How long have I been asleep?"

"Almost a whole day," Naruto replied.

_Well, _Sasuke thought, _that explains the headache._

The young deity continued. "Last night, I couldn't sleep 'cause the dojo kept whining and screeching, so I went out to try and shut it up a little. I guess you woke up, and then my... power got out of control and tried to attack you. But I, of course, being the greatest god ever, managed to call it back just before it got you."

He finished with a grin, but Sasuke stared at his fatigued visage and frowned.

"You haven't slept or eaten at all, have you?"

Naruto's grin dropped. "Well," he started, "we don't really have any food around here yet, and-"

"You idiot!" the Uchiha cut him off, tugging the blanket off himself. His peripheral vision caught a glimpse of orange where he'd been lying. It was Naruto's hoodie, which he guessed he'd been using as a pillow. "And I bet you've been sitting around in just a t-shirt, too! Are you trying to kill yourself!"

The blond was starting to look honestly offended. "Hey! I'm a god, and a little perk of being immortal is that you _don't die!_"

And then, Naruto sneezed.

Sasuke sighed exasperatedly. "But apparently, you get sick."

The pale, but healthy boy raised a hand to the other's head. Naruto flinched away a bit, but his determined companion just grabbed a shoulder with his other hand to keep him still.

The tanned forehead beneath Sasuke's palm was very, very warm.

He didn't know much about divine physiology, but he was almost positive that nobody, mortal or otherwise, should be quite that hot.

"You have a fever," he assessed. Under the fingers of his other hand, he felt the cotton-clad shoulders trembling slightly. "And your shaking with chills."

"I am not!" Naruto jerked back, slapping the invading hands away.

"It should be you under that blanket, dumbass," Sasuke stated, grabbing the hoodie from the floor. He shook it relatively free of wrinkles, then threw it toward the other teen. "Put this back on. And lie down."

Naruto took the garment, but stubbornly refused to put it on. "No! What makes you think you can tell me what to do?"

"The fact that you obviously can't take care of yourself," the dark-haired boy answered easily, rising to his feet.

"I can take care of myself just fine!" the blonde retreated, scooting backward across the tatami as Sasuke advanced.

"Right, that's why you're sick as a dog."

"I'm not sick!"

"Bullshit."

"Why do you care?"

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, Naruto's back against the wall. Like a trapped rabbit, yet... a defiant, stubborn, trapped rabbit.

"I _don't_ care," he said, turning and starting toward his luggage. "Just put the damn shirt on and lie down."

He could feel the deity's blue eyes on him as he bent down to unzip the duffle bag with his clothes in it (and was well aware that Naruto wasn't putting the hoodie on). His pants were still dirty from falling in the mud the day before, and it was beginning to feel highly uncomfortable. Grabbing out a fresh pair of blue jeans, he turned his head to glare at Naruto. The blond looked away hastily with a grimace.

After changing his pants, he examined his shirt. It wasn't really clean anymore, but it would live another day. They didn't have handy access to a laundromat, so he'd have to conserve clothing as much as possible. He could probably shower at the university.

Next, he moved to his backpack. Nestled inside was his wallet, which he pulled out and shoved in a back pocket of his jeans, the long chain attached to it coming around to snap about a front belt loop.

Naruto sounded almost meek as he asked, "Where are you going?"

Sasuke hoisted his leather coat from where it rested atop a still-unloaded suitcase. "I'm going out to find something to eat. You stay here, get some rest."

And with that, he pulled his collar close to his neck and slid open the front sliding doors, leaving quietly.

As he made his way down the stone path toward his glistening, black motorcycle, he noted that the front yard looked almost the same as it had when they'd first arrived.

_He must not have been able to finish fixing up the whole place._

He undid a zippered pouch in his coat and fished around inside, a moment or so later extracting the keys to his bike.

_Dealing with an obnoxious god is bad enough_, he thought. "What the hell am I going to do with a _sick_, obnoxious god?"

* * *

tbc... 

No preview this time, because I'm lazy. You'll just have to wait and see what happens.


	6. The Parable of the Schoolboys

**Author's Note:** Hey there! How are you all doing? I hope you're all ready for the next chapter! Although... you've probably been ready for it for months, by now. Yeahhh.

Anyway, this one was pretty fun to write. The entire last half came to me really suddenly, and I wrote it in about four hours. For me, _very_ quick. Which is probably why it jumps around so much, sorry.

Oh, and Sasuke changed his clothes. Go see the ch. 5 edit.

**Warnings for this chapter:** Completely WTF!random! crossover-ing. And points go to you if you know where the hell the title is from. Without looking it up.

**Everything else:** See first chapter. _-laziness-_

Chapter 6: **The Parable of the Schoolboys**

_This_, Naruto thought miserably as he pulled the blanket tighter around his huddled form, _sucks. Really, really sucks._

Sasuke had been gone for probably more than half an hour, and the blonde boy was beginning to actually feel himself shivering. His nose was getting stuffy, and every time he sneezed he thought he was going to explode.

He'd never been sick before. He could tell already that he hated it -- the simultaneous hot/cold sensations, the sneezing, the tiredness, the inability to breathe through his nose... Yeah, he was pretty sure he'd never take breathing for granted again. That is, if he ever got well.

But then, he had to be optimistic. He remembered from his internship that human colds usually only lasted about a week, so, with his more sophisticated system of antibodies, his would probably last a couple of days, at most. One day, with his abnormally quick healing. He hoped. And when it was gone, he'd just have to be sure to jump around with twice as much energy as before, to get back at the cold for trying to slow him down.

He sneezed again. Oh great, now his ears were ringing.

_Maybe I can just go to sleep_, he thought miserably. He'd tried before, but the sneezing and inability to breathe hampered even his best efforts. _Or... how about a sleeping spell?_

That was it! He'd just put himself to sleep for a few hours! He smiled as he unclenched the blanket, thinking himself quite the genius.

He formed a triangle with his hands, pushing them outward and then moving his arms in opposite directions, tracing the outline of a wide circle and leaving streaks of soft, bluish light in their wake. An intricate symbol made of the same blue light appeared in the center of the circle as the blonde diety mumbled a short, Latin incantation, snapping his hands back together at the end and thrusting them toward his own body.

The symbol just made a faint, dull buzzing sound and faded out. Naruto sat in position for a minute, waiting.

_Any second now would be nice..._

But it was useless. Nothing happened, and eventually he concluded that nothing was ever going to.

"Aaargh!" He growled exasperatedly, letting himself fall backward against the wall. "Stupid power. Stupid cold. Stupid rain. Stupid bastard falling off the roof."

"Sorry, next time I'll be sure to hang there 'til my fingers break."

Naruto jerked his head in the direction of the front door, where the familiar voice had suddenly come from. Unfortunately, his neck protested stiffly and he let out a pained moan as his head began throbbing.

Yep, he definitely hated being sick.

"Geez, idiot, you look worse than when I left," Sasuke commented, making his way over with several plastic bags hanging from his arms and hands. From the largest one he extracted a thick-looking blanket and tossed it down to the other boy. "Why didn't you go to sleep?"

"Tried, couldn't," Naruto muttered before examining the folded material he'd been given. "What's this for?"

"Che, you're cold aren't you? The other one's too thin. It won't be any help in this weather."

The dark-haired boy set the rest of the bags onto the tatami and sat down next to them, wary of the candles nearby that dimly lit the area. (While it was true that the lights on the ceiling were now in tact enough to work, the dojo probably hadn't gotten electricity for years.) While Naruto unfolded the large blanket and wrapped himself in it as thoroughly as he could, Sasuke fussed around in another bag. What he withdrew made Naruto's mouth water even with a waning apetite.

"I found a 24-hour convenience store, and this was the closest thing they had to instant soup. The gas station I stopped at had a microwave and water, but I had to put it in a cup I could put a lid on. I'm still surprised it survived the ride back here."

It was ramen. _Miso_ flavoured ramen. If Naruto had had the energy, he would've glomped the other boy seven times over, bastard or not.

Sasuke just tossed him a pair of chopsticks, which Naruto hastily broke apart and put to use, and fished out a can of soda and a bag of trail mix that would probably last a couple of days.

They ate together in relative silence. Once they'd finished, the Uchiha emptied the bags completely, revealing several more cups of instant ramen, another two cans of soda, and a box of tissues. Sasuke explained that despite how meager their assets appeared, they should theoretically be enough to live on for the moment. However, he hadn't planned on one of them being sick. Sasuke couldn't support the both of them on his own even if he got a job; Naruto would have to pull his own weight as well.

"And I do have to go to school," Sasuke reminded. "My professors are already not going to be pleased that I missed the last couple of days."

Naruto suddenly perked up. "You mean the university? Can I come?"

"No."

The blond balked at the unabashed refusal. "Why not?"

"End of discussion. Now," the dark-eyed teen stood up again, glaring at the watch around his wrist, "I'm leaving, or I'll be late to my first class. Stay here, and out of trouble. Just go to sleep or something."

"But I tried that already! It didn't work!"

"Then try again."

And with that, the Uchiha grabbed his backpack and turned to walk away. Naruto would've protested more, but the mention of sleep had made his tiredness return ten-fold. He could only watch indignantly as the other boy's back got nearer to the door. It made a faint pang of melancholy rise in his heart as he remembered his seventeen years in Heaven, where, since birth, his line of sight had consisted solely of turned backs.

Then, at the door, Sasuke suddenly stopped, and turned his head. His dark gaze seemed to crush down the feeling with overwhelming force.

"Why," he asked after a long pause, his voice not mocking, or joyful, or really anything but well-veiled curiosity, "isn't Heaven stopping me?"

The System Force hadn't stopped him during the night when he left for supplies, and it didn't seem to be doing anything now. Naruto knew what it meant, and tucked his chin to his collarbone to hide the almost happy expression that crossed his features unwilled.

In explanation, he asked, "Well you're coming back here, aren't you?"

Sasuke just turned and walked out the door.

And just like that, Naruto was alone again. Except that, with Sasuke's question and the subsequent answer sliding through his mind like a stock ticker, he could only grin stupidly in the other boy's wake. He couldn't believe he was actually happy at the thought, but the fact still remained, proven by the System Force's lack of action.

Sasuke intended to return to him.

And Naruto couldn't _not_ be completely ecstatic about that for some reason.

As the blond unwound the blanket from about himself, preparing to bed down and try again for some substantial and much-needed rest (pointedly ignoring the fact that he was doing exactly as Sasuke had suggested), he began to list off the things about his new roommate that pissed him off.

_He's stubborn, arrogant, prissy, stuck-up, secretive, too quiet, touchy, bossy, antisocial, bland, insulting, and has mood swings._ Naruto laid himself down, using the smaller blanket as a make-shift pillow.

_And I'll grant that he's easy on the eyes, but his personality is so icy that he might as well be an expensive statue, made entirely of stone. In fact, I'll be he's only intending to come back here out of obligation to a sick person. Yeah._

Because, as much as it confused him, the System seemed to insist that Sasuke had a pure heart, and someone with such a heart would never just leave a sick person to die (which was what Naruto believed inevitably would happen to him, with the miserable way he felt).

_Not to mention, this is his only place to stay for the time being, so he doesn't really have a choice!_

Convincing himself that these had to be the only reasons the Uchiha bastard was planning on coming back, he closed his eyes, finding it much easier to frown at the thought of the dark-eyed teen.

But when he finally drifted off, he couldn't purge the tranquil smile from his lips.

* * *

Sasuke scowled deeply on his way to biology.

He'd already been chewed out twice, once by his calculus professor and then by his philosophy teacher (though, really, Kyouraku-sensei had seemed more disappointed than angry). Either way, things weren't looking up. He'd missed an important lecture in math, and though a girl from the front had offered him the use of her notes to copy from, he'd still found it difficult to understand the complicated integrals jotted out on the paper. _('A' sub 's' equals the integral from zero to one of two Pi- Where the hell did that 'y' come from!)_

He sighed as he made his way down the hall. Yeah, he would probably have to see the professor sometime soon to have that lesson tutored to him. It was a shame he'd scheduled all his classes in a block. He should've left himself a little break in between so he could take care of things like this. The martial arts club met that day, so he wouldn't have any free time until after three, and by then Kuchiki-sensei would have already gone home.

_Maybe I can steal some time tomorrow, after music theory..._

Suddenly, however, his thoughts were broken by a rather disturbing -- and slightly raspy -- yell.

"Uchiha! Hey! Yeah, I'm talking to you! Uchiha!"

Stopping abruptly in his steps, his body seemed to freeze. He didn't want to turn around and acknowledge anyone so crude as to yell at him in a hallway surrounded by classrooms _in session_, and the fact that he knew who it was made him want to turn around even less.

But as a hand grasped his shoulder and turned his body forcefully, he really didn't get a say in the matter. Uzumaki Naruto looked up at him, and he couldn't decide whether to be more angry or surprised.

He settled on the former.

"Geez, here you are!" Naruto gushed noisily. "I've been looking all over campus for you! I asked a couple people if they knew-"

"Idiot! Shut up!" Sasuke cut him off. The few people in the hallway besides themselves were already looking strangely at the two boys, and if they continued on like they were, someone from a classroom would undoubtedly come out to hush them. "There are classes in these rooms," he continued more quietly before Naruto got the chance to retort. "Don't you know how rude it is to yell across the hall like that?"

Sasuke felt satisfied as an embarrassed blush appeared on the blond's face, and knew he'd gotten his point across. Taking hold of the tanned wrist which had only moments ago been attached to his shoulder, he yanked Naruto toward a deserted seating and locker area in an nearby skywalk.

After they were out of the way and in no danger of disturbing people with Naruto's loud style of conversation, Sasuke released the other boy and turned to face him, eyes smoldering lowly. "Now, what the hell are you doing here? I told you to stay at the dojo and go to sleep."

"I did!" was Naruto's defense. "But I woke up coughing a couple hours later, and couldn't get back to sleep. I wasn't hungry, so I got bored!"

"And what about being sick? Go back! Did you somehow forget that you've got a fever and are probably highly contagious?"

"Actually, I feel a lot better now! See?" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and put it to his forehead, smirking proudly.

Dark eyes widened as he felt first-hand the truth of the statement. Somehow, within just a few hours, Naruto's fever had totally disappeared. "How...?"

"Must've been the awesome healing powers of ramen!" the diety hooted. "The only thing left is my throat, and that'll probably go away soon, too."

"Great," Sasuke jerked his hand away. "Now why don't _you _go away? I've got class to go to, and you'll just be in the way."

"No I won't! Come on, Uchiha, don't be such a prick! I'll just be quiet and listen, and you won't even know I'm there!"

"Definitely not. Go back to the dojo."

"I'll get lost!"

"Then how did you get here?"

"I searched out your presence and followed it!"

"Take the bus. The answer is still no."

"Come on, bastard, please?"

"For the last time, no!"

* * *

"You're late, Uchiha-san. And students are to give proper notice before inviting guests to class. I might add that they are to _attend_ class."

"I apologize for my absence, Ishida-sensei, and for the intrusion. An... unexpected situation came up. And this is Uzumaki... uh, Naru-something, a transfer student I've been assigned to escort around campus." Sasuke gestured to the blond teen at his side, who's initial enthusiasm upon entering the classroom was quickly beginning to wane.

The professor cast a long, icy glance at "Naru-something", and then turned back to the Uchiha, who was only less icy due to fewer years of practice.

"Very well," the professor relented, though not abandoning his supercilious attitude as he turned back to the blackboard to continue his lesson. "Take your seats."

Sasuke bowed wordlessly and began leading his now straight-faced companion up through the theatre-like lecture room, ignoring a fierce jab to his waist and the quiet hiss of "You don't even know my name yet, bastard?"

"Oh, and Uzumaki-san," Ishida-sensei suddenly continued, making Naruto pause in his step and turn around, while Sasuke just continued up to his desk without him. "Please take note that I do not tolerate disruptions in my class."

Naruto frowned irritatedly, but thought the better of replying. Instead, he turned back to the rear of the room, spotting his dark-haired acquaintance at the very top, empty desks on every side of him. On his way up to joining him, however, something caught his eye.

A boy with dark hair and pale skin, a bit like Sasuke in looks if his dark eyes weren't covered by square-ish glasses, wore the most atrocious white shirt he'd ever seen. A thin, blue cross covered his chest, and white shoulder flaps that joined in the back made for a sort of cape. And to add insult to injury, snug, white pants adorned his legs, with white shoes to finish off the pristinely horrifying outfit.

Suppressing an outward shudder, Naruto made his way quickly to the top and took the seat to Sasuke's right, beside a friendly looking girl who, unlike most others in the room, didn't seem to have a crush on Sasuke.

As he heaved a sigh and rested his head on his forearm atop the desk, however, he felt a quick poke from her direction, and lifted his head to face her.

She just pointed toward the front, where Ishida-sensei was talking about DNA transcription and drawing a rather detailed depiction of an mRNA strand being copied into existence by an RNA polymerase enzyme. "That's Ishida Ryuuken-sensei. He may be sort of off-putting at first, but he's a really good teacher," she whispered, smiling.

Naruto chuckled. Now he knew why she didn't have a crush on Sasuke. She had a massive one for the professor. Why, the blond didn't know. Sure, his sandy brown hair, handsome face, and sharp eyes commanded attention, but it was on the tip of Naruto's tongue to tell her to give up. That man had lost his wife some years before, and was little more than an unfeeling yeti now. The only things he cared about were his job, his finances, and... oh, look! A deeply buried concern for his... son?

Looking back to the fashion disaster a few rows ahead of him, he smirked widely and fought down a louder laugh.

"Good luck," he whispered back to the girl next to him. She'd definitely need it, though the confused look on her face made her look pretty cute. She'd probably have better luck with Sasuke the Bastard Brick.

Sasuke the Bastard Brick... who was furiously scrawling notes down a page per second to his left.

...Okay, maybe she should stick with the professor.

After all, he was a very good teacher, as she'd said. By the end of the class an hour later, Naruto had actually learned something about DNA, a subject which even the best tutors in Heaven couldn't successfully explain to him. Over all, it had turned out to be an interesting class.

He was excited. About learning. Whoa, this being-on-Earth-for-extended-periods-of-time thing was really starting to mess with his head.

And additionally, the sudden influx of information from the minds he'd looked into, however briefly, made him rather... chatty.

"...And did you see the kid a few rows up from us? The one with the white outfit?"

"That's Ishida-sensei's son," Sasuke muttered on their way to the martial arts club. His hand hurt, it having cramped from all the writing, and he figured his ears were going to as well in a few minutes if Naruto didn't slow down his excessive blabber.

"Yeah, I know. But seriously, he's got such a freakin' log up his ass! Not as bad as his dad, but... Anyway, do you two know each other? If it weren't for his horrible fashion sense and glasses, I'd say he was kinda like you! Although you know, he only dresses like that to make his dad upset. Or at least that's what he tells himself. He really just wants the man's attention. I mean honestly! Can't that-"

"Wait, wait," Sasuke interrupted. "How do you...?" And then he remembered. He didn't know how, but he'd momentarily forgotten that Naruto wasn't just a normal teenage boy, if sort of hyper-talkative at the moment.

"Duh, did you forget who you're talking to? I can read minds like books! Well okay, maybe that's stretching it a little, but... Oh! And by the way, it's Uzumaki Na-ru-to! And don't forget it, either! If you-"

"_Uzumaki_." Sasuke interrupted a second time.

"What?"

"Shut up."

* * *

tbc...

**Preview:**

Sasuke didn't even dignify that with annoyance. "Kakashi-sensei, this is Uzumaki Naruto."

"Ah! So you're the one Sasuke ran off with!" the man gushed, while still somehow managing to seem incredibly uninterested. Turning to the Uchiha, he continued. "I'd called your dormitory to see if you were up for training yesterday, but your brother informed me that you'd moved out with someone. I'd figured you must've found a nice woman, but... well, you two must be good friends, then, I suppose?"

"Hell no!" Naruto suddenly burst. "We're not friends! We're just..." He trailed off, trying to think of something more accurate to call them. They _weren't_ friends yet, after all, not by a long shot. So then what? Roommates? Rivals? They weren't really classmates. Hm.

Unfortunately, before Naruto was able to settle on a term, Kakashi formed his own interpretation of the rather long pause.

* * *

And just because I feel like it:

**Omake!**

"You're late, Uchiha-san. And students are to give proper notice before inviting guests to class."

Sasuke was in no mood for this. It was hard enough to deal with the blond idiot beside him, and his irritation levels were already past critical. He couldn't _believe_ he'd let Naruto persuade him into this.

"I might add that they are to _attend_ class."

And with that, the Uchiha's Irritation Measuring Meter broke. Into a thousand pieces.

"And _I_ might add that _you_ should teach a class in your own storyline, and get out of this one!"

Ishida-sensei was shocked for a moment, before his icicle disposition returned, even sharper than before. "Watch your tongue, brat, before I dissect you with a spirit arrow. _You're_ the one in the wrong storyline."

Sasuke was about to make a crafty retort about how he would quicker dissect the other with his wind shadow shuriken when a new voice spoke up from somewhere in the class.

"Actually," a short boy wearing a Nekomi Tech jacket began, the beautiful girl next to him watching on worriedly, "you're _both_ in the wrong storyline."

* * *

Yes, it's Bleach. Yes, I'm a loser. Yes, I may also be on crack. No, I don't care. 


End file.
